Switch to Desirable Stakes ideal for Ole Dancer
Subpar performance in a midweek hit-out from a yard companion means Ole Dancer will contest the fillies' Stakes race at Flemington.
Sheza Alibi, under the care of Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, was set to launch her autumn slate in the Listed Desirable Stakes (1400m) this Saturday, as Ole Dancer targeted the older females in the Group 3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m).
Sheza Alibi underwhelmed during Tuesday's breeze-up, prompting the stable to reverse their assignments.
According to Moody, the Desirable Stakes offers a milder contest for Ole Dancer against peers of similar vintage.
"She's not wound up or screwed down as we're mindful of not wanting her to have a gut-buster 14 days before the Surround, which is a Group 1, and ultimately, we want to be going around two or three runs after that," Moody said.
"Class will take her a long way, unless one of the other fillies really jumps out of the ground, so I would suggest it would be hard to see her getting beat."
Since her rest after claiming the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) last spring, the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 28 has been the target for Ole Dancer.
With three successes in five attempts, Moody pins her setbacks on unlucky gates.
A touch more fortune might have kept her perfect, emulating her celebrated kin Black Caviar, after whom the weekend's top event, Black Caviar Lightning, is titled.
The lineage connects via Ole Dancer's father Ole Kirk, from a sister to Black Caviar.
"The times she got beat she had bad barriers, so we rode her stone cold and she ran home super," Moody said of Ole Dancer.
"We've probably got to ride her cold on Saturday, seven of seven, and the filly of Danny O'Brien's (Sass Appeal) probably leads and controls the tempo and is probably the one we have to beat.
"It's not going to be an easy task, but it will be a nice gallop for her, the track looks enormous and the rain we had on Wednesday is the best thing that has happened to every track in Victoria.
"All being well, this will lead us to the Surround in a couple of weeks."
Explore the online bookmakers via Australian betting sites ahead of the Desirable Stakes.
The post Race switch to suit Ole Dancer first appeared on Just Horse Racing.
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