Leotie to stamp her Guineas credentials
Henry Dwyer believes the decision to bypass one Group One race with Leotie will give her the best chance to make a significant impact in another.
Leotie is on the third line of betting for next month’s Group One Thousand Guineas and will be out to stamp her credentials when she runs in the Prelude at Caulfield on Saturday.
It will be her first start since she scored an easy win in a 1400m-benchmark race for fillies at Caulfield on August 27, which came two weeks after she stormed home for second to I Am A Star in the Group Three Quezette Stakes at the same track.
The trainer considered taking Leotie to Sydney for the Group One Golden Rose last Saturday week but decided against it with a view to extending her spring campaign.
“She runs in the Thousand Guineas Prelude on Saturday. I can’t wait,” Dwyer said.
“She had a week on the water walker, just because we were a week ahead of ourselves, and she came back on Monday and just looks absolutely terrific.
“I couldn’t be happier with her.
“She’ll go to the Thousand Guineas after the Prelude and because we’ve had that freshen-up, once she gets to the Thousand Guineas if she’s measuring up I reckon we can push on to the Oaks. That’s what her pedigree suggests.”
Dwyer is comfortable with the decision to keep her in Melbourne after seeing how dominant Astern was in the Golden Rose at Rosehill.
“If we went up there and had a hard run it pretty much counts her out of all the races after a Thousand Guineas,” he said.
“I thought it was more sensible to wait for the Thousand Guineas and have a horse for after that.”
Chris Parnham returns from a careless riding suspension on Saturday and retains the ride on Leotie.