Big Dance riches lure Matias as Gringotts eyes historic three-peat

The $3 million prizemoney pool for the Big Dance has swayed connections of Matias to focus on the Melbourne Cup Day feature where they’re confident a bumper field will generate a genuine tempo.

A strong winner of the Frank Packer Plate (2000m) in the autumn, Matias resumed with a solid fourth in the Cameron Handicap (1400m) at Newcastle before beating all but It’s A Knockout in the Big Dance Wild Card (1600m) to secure his place.

While Saturday’s Sydney Gold Cup (2000m) – formerly known as the Rosehill Gold Cup – was also considered for the horse, co-trainer Gerald Ryan said the $2.25 million prizemoney differential was hard to resist.

“He was going to run in the Rosehill Cup or the Big Dance, but with the prizemoney, the owners wanted to go to the Big Dance on Tuesday,” Ryan said.

“The negative there is he could be looking for further than 1600 metres, but in saying that, looking at the way the field is shaping up, the Big Dance is going to be run at a pretty good tempo. That might help him.

“His two runs have been terrific, and his coat has come right through now.”

Reece Jones will partner Matias from the inside gate, while topweight Gringotts has barrier nine in his quest to win the Big Dance for the third year in succession.

The seven-year-old is the class runner and has again been building nicely, resuming with a third to Autumn Glow in the Winx Stakes (1400m) and finishing two lengths from the same mare in the Seven Sunrise Stakes (1600m) before a last-start seventh in the Alan Brown Stakes (1400m).

The Joe Pride-trained Estadio Mestalla will lump topweight of 62kg in the Little Dance (1600m), qualifying with his runner-up finish in The Gong (1600m) in November last year.

The Melbourne Cup Day consolation has been a target since then, and Pride expects the gelding to be the testing material, despite a last start defeat as favourite.

“He’s a better chance of picking up the Little Dance (than the Big Dance), and he’ll be hard to beat,” Pride said.

“He’s come through his last run really well. He’ll bounce back.”

Capacity fields of 20 are set to line up in both the Big Dance and Little Dance, with the Barn Dance (1300m) Choisir Handicap (1100m) rounding out the afternoon’s Sydney features.