Celestial Legend worth the weight loss for jockey Tyler Schiller

“I’ve only got one ride at Gosford on Thursday, and my aim is to be down to 50½ kg by then – and it will be about losing water level after that,” Schiller said. “I have been eating steak every night and just being careful to get my weight down slowly, so I will be strong.

“I have the rest of the week to burn the rest off, which is a couple of kilos. I have only three rides for the day, so Celestial Legend is the focus. If I get it right he will be very hard to beat.”

The draw was kind to Everest winner Think About It, which will jump from a middle barrier after scratchings. Think About It has been running well without much luck, being runner-up to Lady Laguna in the Canterbury and then fifth in the Veight’s George Ryder Stakes.

Joe Pride believes the topweight will peak at Randwick on Saturday.

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“It is a red-hot Doncaster this year and when we decided to come here I didn’t envisage a field like this one,” Pride said.

“He is a tremendous horse, our horse. He goes into [the Doncaster] with a couple of tough seasoning runs, which will have him at his peak. I don’t think the wet track will be a problem for him as he is a [son of] So You Think.”

The weather will have a strong influence on the Doncaster, with up to 90 millimetres of rain expected later in the week, but the forecast for Saturday is for a clear sunny afternoon.

If the track deteriorates into the heavy range, Canterbury Stakes winner and George Ryder runner-up Lady Laguna will come into contention.

“She is very fit and very deep into her prep, and we don’t have to do a lot with her between runs,” Lady Laguna’s trainer Annabel Neasham said.

“She is very well weighted because she is equal-highest rated horse in the field with Think About It, and yet we get in at 51 kilograms. If she runs the mile out strongly, she will be hard to beat.”

There are four group 1 races at Randwick on Saturday with the barrier draws for the Sires Produce Stakes, Australian Derby and TJ Smith also conducted on Tuesday.

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