Fresh from a Group 1 win in Melbourne, Gary Portelli has his sights on a NSW feature.
Gary Portelli is cautioning punters to rule a line through Encap's Golden Eagle performance, confident the gelding can rebound in the $1 million The Gong and deliver him his second feature race win in the space of a week.
Portelli produced bonny mare Kimochi for an outstanding win from a wide draw in Saturday's Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield, and Encap will need to do something similar after coming up with barrier 19 of 20 in Saturday's Kembla Grange showpiece.
However, the wide draw has done little to dent Portelli's belief that Encap can give the race a shake, feeling he didn't let down on the firm track when midfield in the Golden Eagle (1500m).
"We're not having much luck with these gates, but he's going to get back anyway," Portelli said.
"Hopefully it will be a truly run race and based on his work on Tuesday morning, if he has any luck from that gate he is going to be right in the finish.
"He'd had a little heel issue that we'd had to work on (before the Golden Eagle) and he just felt the hard track that day as well. While he likes it firm, you could just see he was holding back a bit.
"Since then, his foot is 110 per cent right. It has been raining for the last few days at Kembla, so the track should just have the edge off it, and it will be perfect."
Prior to his Golden Eagle performance, Encap had captured the Theo Marks Stakes (1300m) second-up and was doing his best work late when fourth in the Alan Brown Stakes (1400m) in which Saturday's Gong rival Gringotts finished second.
At his only other start over a mile, Encap finished a luckless fifth to Celestial Legend in the Group 1 Randwick Guineas.
Next month's The Ingham (1600m) at Randwick will be Encap's main summer target, provided he runs to expectations in The Gong (1600m) .
"He's a gelding and he's sound. We will probably race him deep into the summer, he will miss most of the autumn then come into a Brisbane winter carnival," Portelli said.
"If he runs like we think he will, he will aim up towards The Ingham."
A capacity field of 16 plus four emergencies has accepted for The Gong with Big Dance winner Gringotts drifting to $5 after drawing barrier 16, while Territory Express ($4.80) has usurped him for favouritism after coming up with gate seven.
