Hyeronimus sees Headley Grange in prime position for group 1 double

Adam Hyeronimus welcomed a draw not too close to the inside rail for Headley Grange when the Joe Pride-trained galloper attempts to become just the third horse to win the Kingsford Smith Cup-Stradbroke Handicap double on Saturday at Eagle Farm.

Hyeronimus made the most of gate three in the 1300m Kingsford Smith Cup two weeks ago at the track, giving the five-year-old an economical run in the weight-for-age test to edge out Jimmysstar and Fangirl.

It was maiden group 1 for Headley Grange and first at the elite level for Hyeronimus in Queensland.

The combination drew gate eight, which will be seven of 18 without scratchings, for Saturday’s $3 million Queensland winter carnival headline handicap over 1400m.

And with Eagle Farm a heavy 8 on Friday and Headley Grange winning seven of 15 starts on rain-affected going, Hyeronimus was pleased with the middle draw. If successful, the $5.50 TAB favourite will join Pride-trained Think About It (2023) and Bob Thomsen’s Thorn Park (2004) as Kingsford Smith-Stradbroke winners in the same year.

“He’s drawn lovely so he’ll just be able to, if he can begin well, we’ll just let the race unfold for us and that draw should blend us into a nice position,” said Hyeronimus, who has seven wins from 10 rides on Headley Grange.

“Obviously, it’s good not being too close to the fence by that time of the day, and I’m sure from that barrier, we won’t be.

“We’ll be around the right horses. It’s a very competitive race, and it looks to be setting up well for him.”

The seven-time group 1-winning jockey was at Rosehill on Stradbroke Handicap day the past two years, taking out the feature Winter Cup on Sir Lucan. This year he has two group 1 chances at Eagle Farm after also picking up the job on Silken Salute ($41) in the JJ Atkins (1600m).

“It’s a bit of a tricky thing for Sydney jockeys going up and back each week, unless you have decent rides,” he said.

“It’s just hard to really make it worthwhile when the prizemoney and the racing is so good here during the winter.

“I’ve been very, very fortunate that Headley Grange has been in the right races that I’ve been able to ride him in, and he got a good barrier the other day and everything panned out well. And for him to do it at weight for age was a big tick for him.

“It’s always very competitive when you’re in these sorts of races, but the biggest advantage he has is he comes back to handicap conditions. But there’s a few others that are very competitive and very good racehorses, and they get that sort of weight relief as well.”

Headley Grange has 55kg for the Stradbroke but H