3 weeks ago
4
By Craig Kerry
February 5, 2026 — 5.00pm
Trainer Richard Collett has only six horses in work at Warwick Farm and says he’s happy to keep it that way, as long as a few show the ability of Essay.
Collett, the father of Sydney jockeys Jason and Alysha Collett who moved from New Zealand to Warwick Farm in 2022, will debut $100,000 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale buy Essay in the listed Lonhro Plate (1000m) on Saturday off one trial.
Alysha Collett.Credit: Getty Images
The Zousain filly, a $10 TAB chance with Alysha to ride, produced an eye-catching finish in the January 22 trial over 799m at home, coming from well back to come a close second, shading subsequent Canonbury Stakes winner and now equal Golden Slipper favourite Hidrix in the process.
The hit-out confirmed Collett’s opinion of Essay and her first-up shot in the listed two-year-old race.
“She’s quite a natural type of filly,” he said. “She’s had a couple of jump-outs here on the grass and the one trial, but it’s done enough to be there. It’s pretty professional.
“She’s jumped out with a few nice horses from other stables and the trial confirmed what we thought. Trials are trials, but in saying that, we just wanted to educate the filly and she came back, settled nice, and she let down nice. She just did the basics that we wanted, and we were really happy with it.
“First time at the races for many of them, so you just don’t know how they are going to cope on the day, and how she copes is the next step.”
Essay, owned by an all-New Zealand syndicate, was into barrier eight of 12 on Thursday for the $200,000 Lonhro Plate, which had five other first-starters.
Alysha rode Essay in the trial and was impressed, but she was wary of the filly making a first trip away on Saturday.
“She did trial well, but obviously we haven’t asked much of her,” she said.
“She’s still never been let off the bit and is still very new. It’s going to be her first time away from home.
“Every time I’ve ridden her she seems to handle everything really well, she doesn’t turn a hair, but I don’t know what that’s going to be like at Randwick. That’s a different story.
“The best part of the trial was at the top of the straight. I thought I’m not travelling that great, then I asked her the question and she kept giving.
“I think she got a bit of confidence from that as well. They said the couple of days after it, she was pretty happy with herself, so she knew she trialled well.”
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