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Sully set to thrive in wet conditions

Sully will contest the Listed WJ McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday.           Photo: Brett Holburt (Race Images)
Sully will contest the Listed WJ McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday. Photo: Brett Holburt (Race Images)

Group One performer Sully will be vying to nab an elusive stakes victory when he contests the Listed WJ McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

The five-year-old son of Reliable Man has placed at stakes level on five occasions, including the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m), Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m), and Gr.2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m).

The gelding has been hampered by a few issues, but trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young are excited to send their horse north to Sydney to contest the 2000m race on what is currently rated a Heavy9 track.

“Sully will be going up to Sydney, unless something untoward happens,” Busuttin told Sky Sport Radio.

“He is at a stage where he has been through the wars as a horse. His knees aren’t the best and he is crying out for a wet track.

“A wet track is what we will get in Sydney I would presume on Saturday and based on his work this morning I think he will be right in amongst it.”

Sully pleased his connections in the spring with his placings in the Gr.3 JRA Cup (2040m) and Herbert Power and Busuttin believes the gelding will figure right in the finish if he lives up to that form.

“His form is good enough to win a race like that,” Busuttin said. “It is never easy, but if he goes up there and presents in the same form that he was in the spring, which I think he is about to do, he is going to be very hard to beat in that race with 54 kilos on his back.

“Sully will be the only one up there for our stable and he will be worth following.”

Sully was purchased out of Wentwood Grange’s New Zealand Bloodstock 2016 Select Yearling Sale draft by BD Racing for $36,000. -NZ Racing Desk