Brisbane beckons Miss Wilson
John Bary pulls no punches when he says Miss Wilson is far from her best on heavy tracks.
But the Hastings trainer has revealed the last-start Group 1 winner could yet go two further starts deeper into the season.
Bary has the Richard and Liz Wood-bred and raced Miss Wilson slated for Saturday’s Listed ISCL Rotorua Stakes (1400m) and is keen for her to race, within reason.
“It depends on how bad the track gets. It depends on how much rain comes and how the track comes up. We’re hoping for a slow 7,” Bary said on Thursday. “Her record reads that she has placed on a heavy track, but that was at her first start when she ran second to Stradivarius at Rotorua as a two-year-old. She’s a very different animal now.”
Now a five-year-old, Miss Wilson produced a career-defining performance to win the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha last month, her seventh win from 25 starts, taking her earnings to just shy of $350,000.
At first glance, the Rotorua Stakes seems a peculiar choice for Miss Wilson, but when Bary reveals that a tilt at the Group 1 Tattersalls’s Tiara (1350m) at Doomben on June 23 is in the offing, contesting Saturday’s fillies and mares’ event makes more sense.
“This is definitely her last appearance in New Zealand this season but we are thinking of the Tatt’s Tiara as a one-hit raid,” Bary said.
“We’ll just get through Saturday and let Richard make his mind up. The Tiara does look tailor-made for her – 1350m around Doomben at weight-for-age for fillies and mares on a track favouring frontrunners.
“She doesn’t necessarily have to run on Saturday either. We could trial her instead, either here or get her to Brisbane early and trial her there. She’s naturally fit anyway and she’s got the residual fitness from her racing.”
Bary allowed Miss Wilson a week in the paddock after her Te Aroha win and said she was bright and keen in her trackwork in preparation for Rotorua.
“She’s really well. If it was a dead 4, I’d almost declare her – she’s that well. But the track conditions will bring her back to the pack.
“I took her down to Waipukurau for a gallop last week and the track was pretty testing there and she ran [1000m in] 1:03. She had a good blow afterwards too, which was nice. She galloped really well at home on Tuesday, albeit on a better track, and she had 600m today. She’s going well and that’s the main thing.”