Mating Call begins spring campaign at Morphettville

The spring racing ambitions for Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray's mare Mating Call are set to commence at Morphettville.

Clarken expressed anticipation for Mating Call's return over six furlongs in the Group 3 Behemoth Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.

Mating Call's only previous race at 1200m was on debut, resulting in a win at Balaklava nine months ago.

Following her initial win, Clarken and MacGillivray took Mating Call directly to Melbourne for the Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude, where she finished sixth. She then went on to run third in the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes and fifth in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas.

"I'm really interested to see her at six furlongs," Clarken said. "We've only seen her the once and that was the day she won her first start at Balaklava and the way she won was just ridiculous. She then ran really well over in Melbourne and that was her first prep. Now she's furnished into a four-year-old mare and she look fantastic. We're excited to see where she gets to."

While Mating Call holds a nomination for the prestigious Cox Plate (2000m) at Flemington in October, Clarken suggested that entry into the Caulfield Cup (2400m) was improbable.

Of the Cox Plate nomination, Clarken remarked, "You have to do these things because you just don't know as they can come out of left field at this time of year. You have to dream, but I'm not sure 2400 metres of the Caulfield Cup would be her go. She probably gets too much up on the steel, she's not relaxed, for that sort of trip right at the moment. I'm not saying it's never going to happen, but right at the moment it might be a stretch too far for her."

Mating Call recently finished second in a Murray Bridge jump-out and completed a gallop between races at Morphettville last Saturday.

"She appears to have come up really well," Clarken noted. "She's had a jump-out and then she had a good gallop at Morphettville just to get her away from Murray Bridge and get a few shakes and shivers out of the way. It served its purpose. Her time on the tracker was very good. After Saturday, she'll go over the border, that's the idea. You have to get them going to start with, this is in our backyard and a good starting point for her, and then we can work out where to go from there."

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