South Australian sprinter Beau Rossa stepped up his Queensland summer campaign with a Morphettville jump out on Tuesday morning.
Top Adelaide jockey Todd Pannell is committed to riding the horse in his two-start Sunshine State raid which will kick off at Doomben on Boxing Day in the $200,000 Listed Falvelon (1200m) before his main target, the $1m Magic Millions Snippets (1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 15.
And Pannell was happy with how the horse has come back from a luckless spring.
“(I’m) very happy with him,’’ Pannell said.
“He was nice and smooth in his action.
“He jumped good. He was in a nice position there just behind the speed.
“I gave him a little bit of daylight and he strode out really good, he’s had a little blow but I'm really happy with what he’s done this morning,’’ he said.
Clarken plans to fly Beau Rossa to Queensland next week before having a Sunshine Coast trial leading into his first-up run which will be the horse’s first start since running seventh behind Sierra Sue in the Group 1 Rupert Clark Stakes at Caulfield in September.