The Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) has been the centre of Roch ‘N’ Horse’s spring plans and trainer Michael Moroney is hoping an unfavourable draw won’t prove the mare’s undoing.
The classy daughter of Per Incanto will be ridden by Patrick Moloney and was allotted barrier 15 for the sprint feature but will jump from gate 12 should the emergencies not gain a start in the capacity 14-horse field.
“Having a crack at a Group One, we thought this would be the one that she would be most competitive in,” Moroney said.
“Nature Strip and co are heading to the Champions Sprint (Gr.1, 1200m) at Flemington in a fortnight.
“We had hoped that she would have drawn a better gate, but that is just the way it has gone.”
The Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) winner heads into Friday’s feature in supreme order, having finished runner-up in her last two starts – the Gr.2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) and Gr.2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m), both at Flemington.
The latter was when defeated by Private Eye, who franked the form when narrowly touched-off in the A$15 million The Everest (1200m).
Carrying the silks of owner-breeder Little Avondale Stud, Roch ‘N’ Horse is rated a $26 chance and has raced just the once at The Valley, finishing an eye-catching fourth in the Listed Carlyon Stakes (1000m) first-up.
“She handles the Valley fine. She got around it beautifully (in the Carlyon) and never missed a beat,” Moroney said.
“If it runs along truly and she is in the three-wide running lane with a bit of cover and comes out and has a last crack at them (she should be in the finish). It depends how the track is racing too.
“There does appear to be good speed on, so that will be a big help. But we know we will need a lot of luck from that draw.”
Returning to The Valley on Saturday, Moroney is looking forward to lining up fellow Kiwi-bred Bankers Choice in the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m).
“I thought he was pretty unlucky last start (when 10th in the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap, 1600m),” Moroney said.
“The smaller sized field will help him with his racing pattern as he is a horse that gets back a bit.
“It has stacked up as a very strong race on Saturday and it sometimes isn’t, but it is the beneficiary of the Champions Mile (Gr.1, 1600m) being pushed back to the final day at Flemington. It will make for an interesting race.”
Fellow Kiwi-breds Nerve Not Verve and The Good Fight will also represent the trans-Tasman trainer in the Gr.2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup (2500m).
Nerve Not Verve finished fourth last start in the Pinker Pinker Plate (2025m) when favourite at Cranbourne on a Heavy8 track, but was in good form in her previous start when runner-up in the Gr.3 JRA Cup (2040m) at The Valley last month.
“She has been known to throw the odd bad run in and then pick back up,” Moroney said.
“We couldn’t find anything wrong with her after her run at Cranbourne, I think it was just track conditions.
“She has got good wet track form, but in certain wet tracks she does struggle. She never looked to travel at any stage at Cranbourne.”
Meanwhile, Moroney said reports have come back clear following Catalyst’s subpar performance when tailing the field home in the Gr.3 Moonga Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last Saturday.
“We can’t fault him,” he said. “The only thing I can put it down to is there was a lot of kick back. When they scoped him there was a bit of dirt down his trachea.
“He came back with his blinkers full of mud, so whether he coped one in the eye I don’t know, but we can’t physically find anything wrong with him at all.
“He had a bit of a slow recovery, but I think that is more that he got panicking with all the stuff coming back at him, and that was enough to upset him.”