Gluyas' Two-Pronged Chairman's Assault

Having trained three of the last ten winners of the Gr3 Chairman's Stakes in partnership with father-in-law Leon Macdonald, trainer Andrew Gluyas has accepted with two runners in this Saturday's South Australian Derby lead-up attempting to win the race in his own name for the first time. Leading contender Air Assault (Justify-Elegant Eagle, by Zabeel) comes into the race off three consecutive wins since resuming from a spell including a narrow victory last time out over 1800m in the Listed Port Adelaide Guineas. The half-brother to Gr1 winner Go Indy Go (Bernardini) is yet to win past 1800m with his best effort being third in the Gr2 Vase over 2040m at Moonee Valley, so we still need to be convinced on the distance query. What complicates his assignment even further is that he has drawn wide in barrier 12 of 13, and considering he likes to race handy, if not lead, hopefully he won't use up too much energy going forward. The second runner for the stable, who is also an emergency in the Gr1 Australasian Oaks (2000m), 3YO filly Seeking Stardom (Tosen Stardom-Scarlet Moretta, by Fastnet Rock) produced an outstanding effort two starts back in lesser grade at Murray Bridge to win by 6.5-lengths before finishing sixth in the Gr3 Auraria Stakes last start. Racing handy in the past, from barrier 4 the filly is likely to go forward and take up the running and if she's left alone in front, she may prove hard to run down.