Tough mare up for the challenge in the Nivison

Parisal’s first-up win proved her capacity to absorb pressure and James Cummings says she will probably have to show the same resilience to overcome a wide draw in The Nivison.

The Astern mare settled midfield from a similarly awkward gate in the Toy Show Quality (1300m) and tracked three and four-wide throughout before digging deep to chase down Queen Of The Ball for an against-the-odds win.

With the scratching of Vienna Princess from Saturday’s Rosehill feature, Parisal will jump from the outside barrier in the 13-horse Nivison (1200m) field and Cummings says she is again likely to get no favours in a race that otherwise presents as an ideal goal.

“I’m delighted with Parisal, it’s the right race for that mare,” Cummings said.

“The set-up is a little bit challenging, she’s going to need to do a little bit of work to get the required run in the race to win.

“But that’s OK, she has demonstrated she’s capable of producing enough speed early and still being capable of fighting on late.

“I think she’s in good shape and has got to be presenting as an excellent chance for us.”

Pre-post punters agree and she has firmed from $3.70 into $3.20 with Boombet to hold a slim market edge over Victorian raider Magic Time ($3.70).

The pair are clear top picks with Queen Of The Ball ($7) the only other runner under double-figure odds.

Parisal and Magic Time have met once before in the P J Bell Stakes (1200m) at Randwick during the autumn with the latter getting the verdict over the Godolphin filly by 1-1/4 lengths.

However, that was on a heavy track and while Rosehill was a soft 6 on Thursday following just over 11 mils of overnight rain, Australian Turf Club deputy racecourse manager Dave Morrison expected the windy conditions to ensure it was closer to good come race day.

“It’s just into the (soft) six range,” Morrison said on the ATC’s weekly track report video.

“We will see this wind will dry us out and I’m predicting it will be a (soft) five and coming into a perfect race day on Saturday.”