Nick Hall to ride Azkadellia in Tiara
Nick Hall is excited to get his first chance to ride Azkadellia in a race after being given the nod to partner the star mare in the Group One Tattersall’s Tiara.
Hall had been booked to ride Azkadellia in the Doomben 10,000 but was ruled out by suspension and replaced by Mark Zahra.
Damien Oliver, who won the Queen Of The Turf Stakes on Azkadellia in Sydney, was aboard the mare when she finished 10th as favourite in Saturday’s Group One Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm.
Hall expects the Ciaron Maher-trained mare to be hard to beat.
“They’ve been asking to ride her for a while and obviously I got a suspension when I was booked to ride her (in the Doomben 10,000),” Hall said.
“I’m excited to get a turn aboard.”
Hall watched the Stradbroke and hasn’t lost any faith in the mare’s ability.
“I still think she’s probably the second best mare in the land at the moment, behind Winx,” Hall said.
While Hall hasn’t ridden Azkadellia in a race, he said he had ridden her trackwork.
“She’s got a lightning turn of foot. So the key will be to hold her up and use that at the right time,” he said.
Maher put Azkadellia’s Stradbroke failure down to being on the wrong part of the track.
He said the mare had pulled up well and there was no reason to change plans to run in the Tattersall’s Tiara.
“The track was clearly a lot better outside. The horses in contention were the widest runners,” Maher told Melbourne radio RSN on Wednesday morning.
“She’s pulled up really well. We’ll put a saddle on her tomorrow.
“I’m sure she’ll bounce back. Providing she gallops well next week we will head to the Tiara.”