Intriguing Queen Of Dubai returns
VANDYKE HAS HIGH HOPES FOR WELL-BRED MARE IN CUP
AN ex-Gai Waterhouse mare who last raced in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas almost a year ago is the most intriguing runner on Saturday’s Pink Ribbon Cup day on the Gold Coast.
Queen Of Dubai will race for the first time for multiple Group 1 winning trainer David Vandyke, who says the well-bred mare has been a “blank canvas” as she prepares to race in Saturday’s $125,000 Cup as a $6 chance.
Queen Of Dubai turned heads and rocketed into Group 1 Thousand Guineas contention last year when leading all the way in a Listed fillies feature at Sandown as a $20 chance for trainers Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
She then finished midfield in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas which was won by Yearning at Caulfield last October.
Purchased by Queensland’s Telemon Stud, the now four-year-old mare has had two trials for Vandyke in preparation for her first race in the Sunshine State.
Vandyke says her last trial, at the Sunshine Coast, was nothing to write home about but he is convinced she will make her presence felt in Queensland.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone who worked with her previously, so she’s been a bit of a blank canvas for us,” Vandyke said.
“She has been a bit of a hard horse to read.
“When she had that most recent trial she didn’t excite, she sat back and fortunately she picked up late and ran through the line which I did like.
“But the bottom line is she will run whatever time you want her to run.
“She is a well-bred mare and a beautiful type and she can gallop. We are trying to bring all those elements together into hopefully a good performance Saturday.
“We go into Saturday with a bit of an open mind and we will see what she can do.”
Gerry Harvey-owned and Toby and Trent Edmondstrained mare Me Me Legarde will also make her racing return in the Pink Ribbon Cup (1200m) and she is the $2.50 favourite.
But Vandyke says that Queen Of Dubai, who holds a nomination for the rich Golden Eagle, will be ready to rumble.
“She is quite forward because she is a horse who historically has raced on pace,” Vandyke said.
“I wanted to make sure she was close to 100 per cent for her first-up run.
“That way we can get a decent guide as to where we head from here.”
Meanwhile, Vandyke’s Group 1 Queensland Oaks winning star Gypsy Goddess will trial in Queensland next Tuesday as she prepares for a Golden Eagle assault.
The Golden Eagle on October 29 will be Gypsy Goddess’s solitary spring run and she is rated a $15 chance by TAB.