Encosta de Lago appears to have a winning lead in the 2009-10 Australian sires’ premiership but Street Cry will keep in touch if Whobegotyou wins the $1 million Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm this Saturday.

Coolmore sire Encosta de Lago ($7.97 million) is heading for a hat-trick of titles.  Redoute’s Choice ($7.13 million) and Street Cry ($7.01 million) are the only stallions in striking distance with just 8 more Saturdays remaining before the end of the season.

Darley shuttler Street Cry took an early lead in the premiership when Shocking won the Melbourne Cup but lack of numbers stymied his progress as the season evolved.  Encosta de Lago is a deserved leader but he has been represented by 306 runners this season, well ahead of Redoute’s Choice (256) and Street Cry (125).

Whobegotyou (4g Street Cry – Temple of Peace by Carnegie) and Shocking are both trained by Mark Kavanagh for Queensland based owner Laurence Eales.

Kavanagh has Whobegotyou and stablemate Catapulted right on target for the Group 1 Stradbroke (1400m) which is worth $600,000 to the winner.

“I am leaning towards Whobegotyou,” Kavanagh admitted.  “He has improved since his first-up run in the Doomben 10,000 but Catapulted deserves his chance.”

Whobegotyou is a proven G1 performer have won at the elite level in the 2008 Caulfield Guineas and 2009 Yalumba Stakes.  He was a beaten favourite in the Cox Plate a fortnight after the Yalumba and was then tipped out for a 33 week spell before reappearing in Brisbane a fortnight ago.

He flew home first-up to the beaten a length by Hot Danish in the Doomben 10,000 and will appreciate the roomier surrounds of Eagle Farm this Saturday.

The Stradbroke could be the first leg of an international Group 1 double for Street Cry this weekend.  His champion mare Zenyatta will be an odds-on favourite to win the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park on Sunday.  

Street Cry was a G1 winner of the 2002 Dubai World Cup for Sheikh Mohammed and he shuttled to Australia for four seasons until 2006.  He returned after a three year hiatus last year but, in the meantime, his southern service fee skyrocketed from $16,500 to $110,000.  His 2010 fee has increased again to $137,500.