Mark Du Plessis
Trish Dunell
New Zealand colt Sonorous can force his way into the Gr.1 Queensland Derby field with victory at Randwick on Saturday.
The son of Rip Van Winkle is in Australia on the advice of jockey Mark Du Plessis, who rode the three-year-old into an unlucky last-start third in the Gr.2 Champion Stakes at Ellerslie before taking up a contract in Japan.
"It was Mark who actually suggested to us we have a crack at the Derby," said Scott Lucock, who prepares Sonorous with Sally Gillespie. "He swears he should have won that race in Auckland."
Lucock believed Sonorous, who will be ridden by Kiwi apprentice Chris Dell, needs to run in the top three to have any chance of making the Derby field at Eagle Farm on June 11.
The son of Rip Van Winkle is in Australia on the advice of jockey Mark Du Plessis, who rode the three-year-old into an unlucky last-start third in the Gr.2 Champion Stakes at Ellerslie before taking up a contract in Japan.
"It was Mark who actually suggested to us we have a crack at the Derby," said Scott Lucock, who prepares Sonorous with Sally Gillespie. "He swears he should have won that race in Auckland."
Lucock believed Sonorous, who will be ridden by Kiwi apprentice Chris Dell, needs to run in the top three to have any chance of making the Derby field at Eagle Farm on June 11.