Ask him a couple of months ago and Con Karakatsanis probably had no ambitions of featuring in the Group 2 Villiers Stakes with a lack of suitable horses currently in work.
That quickly changed though as My Destiny surged into contention on the back of some fantastic performances.
The four year old showed promise when second in a class two back in October but it was his win on Melbourne Cup Day at Randwick that really proved his worth.
He backed that up with a win at Rosehill on the 12th of November and continued it on the third of this month by disposing of a 16 horse field at the same track.
So good has he been that Karakatsanis has shelved plans to go north to Brisbane and he’ll stay put for an unlikely black type chance.
“The Villiers is always a good race but My Destiny is on the way up and he should get into it with no weight which puts him in with a real chance,” Karakatsanis said.
“There are not many opportunities around to compete in a Group race at this time of the season and after he pulled up so well from his last-start win, we could find no reason not to stay home and target this race.”
While he has form over the likes of Embarrassed and Stratana recently it will certainly be a big jump in the Villiers.
Horses such as Zara Dancer, Monton, Straight Albert and Shadowfax are all in great condition.
Throw in the class of Group 1 winners Erewhon, Miss Keepsake and Group 1 winner King Lionheart and it’s an imposing list.
My Destiny gives away a bit of experience with just the nine career starts as well as the fact this will be his first time over a mile but Karakatsanis isn’t concerned.
“At his last two wins, Jay Ford has had to ride the ears off the horse early to get into a position because he was racing on ‘leaderish’ tracks,” Karakatsanis said.
“We have had to use him up to get as close as we can to the leaders but going to 1600m, I don’t feel we will have to use him up as much.
“He does have a very good turn of foot at the end of his races but he’s still learning because in every win, once he’s got to the front he has tended to wander around.”