QUEANBEYAN trainer Joe Cleary will send Quietly Brilliant to the $100,000 Wellington Boot (1100m) on March 23 following his seventh-placed run in last Sunday's Black Opal.
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With Quietly Brilliant having pulled up well from his Opal run, Cleary has earmarked the Wellington Boot as the prized two-year-old's final gallop this preparation.
And Cleary said he was confident the Alert sired gelding would shape up for the Wellington Carnival after declaring himself "very happy" with the sprinter's performance in Canberra's biggest race.
"Even though he was beaten by three lengths I was very happy with how the horse performed," he said.
"I was probably just a little bit disappointed by the ride [of jockey Nick Souquet] to be honest. "He rode him perfectly for the first half of the race and then had a little bit of a brain snap around the 550m mark and let him rip.
But those sort of races you can't burn the candle at both ends."Cleary, meanwhile, is likely to aim Quietly Brilliant at the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival in his next preparation.
In Sunday's other feature race on the program, the $200,000 Canberra Cup, Mike Petrovic's Laurie's Love came home nearly sixth lengths off the pace to finish sixth.
And in the $50,000 Camarena (1000m), Garry Clarke's highly fancied three-year-old Oh So Adorable was forced out wide on the final turn and proved unable to recover, finishing sixth behind winner Rose of Falvelon.
