G2 winner Time To Reign nearing a return

Having been forced abandon the spring with Time To Reign, trainer Gary Portelli is looking forward to early autumn targets with the valuable colt.

As the three-year-old half-brother to the Portelli-trained 2017 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign, Time To Reign carries a weight of expectation.

He has fulfilled part of that by emulating his sister with his Silver Slipper win but could not manage to claim the big one, finishing fifth behind Kiamichi.

His spring campaign was over before it began when he took longer than anticipated to get over a temperature and connections decided to forfeit the spring in favour of an later summer/early autumn return.

"He is not far off his first gallop and then he will get fitter to be ready for the early part of the autumn," Portelli said.

"We haven't worked out a definite plan but all the sprint races are there for him.

"He will be aimed at the Group Ones but there are a lot of good horses out there."

The trainer is seeing some early signs two-year-old Still Reigning has inherited the family ability.

While She Will Reign is by Manhattan Rain, Still Reigning and Time To Reign are both by Time For War out of Courgette.

Still Reigning has had two barrier trials, running second to the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Cellsabeel in the most recent and showing she had progressed from her unplaced effort in her first.

"Ciaron Maher's horse then came out and ran a good fourth in the Golden Gift," Portelli said.

"Still Reigning will have another trial and then the plan is to start her in the Inglis Nursery which She Will Reign won.

"Of the two-year-olds in I've got in the stable, Still Reigning could be the one that turns up for the Slipper.

"She has shown so far that she is pretty fast."