Raiment and Eusebio to continue winning form at Randwick

Consistent filly Raiment is poised to claim her second win of the Sydney Autumn carnival when she contests the G3 PJ Bell Stakes at Randwick.

A winner against older rivals at Rosehill two weeks ago, Raiment (James Doyle) returns to three-year-old fillies’ class in a race trainer John O’Shea sees as ideal.

“Raiment was dominant against the older mares last start and the set weights and penalties against her own age and sex here is a big advantage. She’s also very effective in this ground,” O’Shea said.

Raiment has won four of her past five races, most recently in the G3 Birthday Card Stakes at Rosehill when she had control of the race from the start.

The daughter of Street Cry faces similar class opposition on Saturday with Samantha, who finished second to her at Rosehill, and Zumbelina, a winner at her past four, among the hardest to beat.

Raiment is one of several strong prospects for trainer John O’Shea on the Randwick undercard, with Alegria in the G2 Chairman’s Handicap and Eusebio in the G3 Carbine Club Stakes also possessing winning credentials.

Alegria (Joao Moreira) went down narrowly in this race a year ago and her trainer says she is in equally good form this time around.

“Alegria’s been set for this race, she’s ticking over very well and she’s very effective in the ground, so there’s no reason why she couldn’t be competitive again,” the trainer said.

The G1 Sydney Cup campaign of Godolphin’s UK-trained runner Polarisation also begins in the Chairman’s Handicap with the stable looking forward to its first involvement in the Sydney carnival.

James Ferguson, assistant to trainer Charlie Appleby, said conditions at Randwick should suit the horse.

“He handles the soft well, we don’t mind if there’s more rain,” Ferguson said.

“He’s settled in very well here, he’s in great form and has come to hand very quickly.”

Eusebio (James Doyle) has emerged as one of the more promising members of the Australian stable and O’Shea is anticipating a strong showing in the Carbine Club.

“He’s been a revelation. He has a really strong will-to-win and is very effective in the ground,” he said.

“He hasn’t had a run for a while due to the way the programming has gone, but we’ve done plenty of work with him and I’m sure he’ll be fit enough.”

“He’s an exciting horse for us who has done really well this prep.”

Eusebio scored his third win from three starts this time in when an impressive winner of the Listed Canberra Guineas on March 5.