Farm air repairs Mitho’s mare
ROSEMONT Stud has used the expertise of Peter Moody, the trainer of champion sprinter Black Caviar, to help return its mare True Excelsior to her best.
The four-year-old daughter of Exceed and Excel is a massive chance to cause a boilover in tomorrow’s Group 3 Furphy Sprint (1100m) at Flemington, according to stud principal Anthony Mithen.
The mare performed poorly at Caulfield last start but a trip to the farm has done her the world of good ahead of the race.
“That was the advice of Peter Moody,” Mithen said.
“I think she enjoys (run- ning) fresh. We backed off her; we actually gave her five or six days at the farm a month ago just to really freshen her and make her feel like a horse again.”
If a jump out at Flemington last Friday is anything to go by, there’s every suggestion True Excelsior can return to the form that saw her finish fourth in the G1 Sangster Stakes (1200m) behind Shoals.
She ran a length-and-ahalf behind I Am Excited — who’s $4 favourite for the Furphy Sprint — in that trial, with Viridine, Santa Ana Lane, Shoals and Redkirk Warrior nearby.
“She trialled in that trial on Friday and went as good as some of those Darley sprint horses and she’s 40-1 in a fillies and mares 1100m Group 3,” Mithen said.
“I’d like to think she’s in that race up to her ears.
“Forget the odds, just watch that trial. She looks spectacular, she’s come into her own.
“We had a few issues with her early in her prep, but we backed off her and it’s been her making I think. I think she’ll run a huge race.”
Mithen said if punters judge her off her Sangster form, then they’ll get a truer indication of how she’s travelling.
“That’s her best and I think she’s feeling her best,” he said.
“She’s got to put it on the track now, so fingers crossed she’s ready to but I’ve got a sneaky feeling she is.”