Racing
Race switch to suit Ole Dancer
Ole Dancer returns in the Desirable Stakes at Flemington before heading to Sydney in search of more Group 1 success.
A lacklustre piece of work earlier in the week by a stablemate will see Ole Dancer take on the filly's version of a Stakes race at Flemington.
The Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained Sheza Alibi had been scheduled to kick off her autumn campaign in the Listed Desirable Stakes (1400m) on Saturday with Ole Dancer taking on the older mares in the Group 3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m).
But Sheza Alibi did not please the stable in her last piece of work on Tuesday, and the decision was made to switch races with Ole Dancer.
Moody said the Desirable Stakes was the softer option of the two races with Ole Dancer set to line up against fillies of her own age.
"She's not wound up or screwed down as we're mindful of not wanting her to have a gut-buster 14 days before the Surround, which is a Group 1, and ultimately, we want to be going around two or three runs after that," Moody said.
"Class will take her a long way, unless one of the other fillies really jumps out of the ground, so I would suggest it would be hard to see her getting beat."
The Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 28 had been earmarked for Ole Dancer from the time she was sent for a break after winning the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) last spring.
Ole Dancer is a three-time winner from five starts with Moody blaming bad barriers for her defeats.
He said with a bit of luck she could be undefeated and heading on the same path as her famous relation Black Caviar after whom Saturday's feature race, the Black Caviar Lightning, is named.
Black Caviar and Ole Dancer's sire Ole Kirk are related with Ole Kirk being out of a sister to Black Caviar.
"The times she got beat she had bad barriers, so we rode her stone cold and she ran home super," Moody said of Ole Dancer.
"We've probably got to ride her cold on Saturday, seven of seven, and the filly of Danny O'Brien's (Sass Appeal) probably leads and controls the tempo and is probably the one we have to beat.
"It's not going to be an easy task, but it will be a nice gallop for her, the track looks enormous and the rain we had on Wednesday is the best thing that has happened to every track in Victoria.
"All being well, this will lead us to the Surround in a couple of weeks."
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