Horse Of The Year chases another Group 1 in Queensland feature.
Pride Of Jenni will break new ground when she contests this Saturday's Doomben Cup in Brisbane.
The Ciaron Maher-trained star will become the first reigning Australian Horse Of The Year to contest the Group 1 since the Horse Of The Year award took its current form in 1993/94.
Might And Power famously won the 1998 Doomben Cup, but that was part of a body of work that earned him the first of two Horse Of The Year titles.
Pride Of Jenni won the 2023/24 Horse Of The Year award after a brilliant season that included Group 1 wins in the Empire Rose Stakes and Champions Mile during Melbourne Cup Week, All-Star Mile success and a stunning Queen Elizabeth Stakes romp.
The daughter of Pride Of Dubai ran a rating of 129 to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, a mark that has been bettered only by Black Caviar and Winx in the history of the Racing And Sports Rating system.
No one is expecting the seven-year-old to repeat that in this Saturday's 2000-metre event, which is good news for her Doomben Cup rivals, but a repeat of her best efforts this season – 126 and a few 123s – would have her fighting out the finish at least.
She will need to buck a recent trend to log the fourth Group 1 win of her career, however.
Pride Of Jenni has not won consecutive races since her Cup Week heroics of 2023 and has not progressed her rating in back-to-back starts since last September, when she won the Group 1 Feehan Stakes in 126 after running 124 when second in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes.
Pride Of Jenni heads into the Doomben Cup off a 116 win in the Listed Anniversary Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield.
That was her first start since running 110 in the Australian Cup (2000m), which followed a 123 first-up win in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m).
That rating would have been good enough to win all Doomben Cups this century bar Zaaki's 126 romp in 2021.
The next best Doomben Cup winning ratings are 122 wins by Metal Bender, Scenic Shot in the second of his wins, Beaten Up and Pornichet.
Pride Of Jenni's problem could be that one of Saturday's rivals heads into the race off a higher rating.
Antino ran 124 to win the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m), which matches his winning rating from the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and his Group 1 Champions Mile second placing, meaning the Queenslander has run to that mark in three of his past five runs.
