John O’Shea has revealed Saturday’s Group One Doomben 10,000 is part of a long-range plan to campaign Sea Siren on the international stage.
O’Shea, who is preparing crack Sydney colt Foxwedge for a trip to Royal Ascot in England next month, is keen to head back to Hong Kong for the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin in December with Sea Siren.
O’Shea has bitter memories of his only previous trip to Hong Kong with Racing To Win, whose career ended after he was injured in the Group One Hong Kong Mile in 2009.
“Racing To Win was galloped on in the Hong Kong Mile and he never raced again,” O’Shea said.
“I learnt a lot from that trip and I want to take this filly over for the Hong Kong Sprint.”
O’Shea believes tight-turning tracks like Doomben and Moonee Valley suit Sea Siren’s style of racing.
“I’m still learning about this filly but she really appreciates tight-turning tracks,” he said.
“She’s won at Canterbury, Warwick Farm and Doomben which are all tight-turning so in the spring I’ll take her to Melbourne for the Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley.
“She’s never raced on a track with wide open spaces like Eagle Farm, Randwick or Flemington.”
O’Shea regularly weighs his horses and believes Sea Siren is at her right fighting weight for the Doomben 10,000.
He has named rising star Pampelonne and the Joe Pride-trained Lady’s Angel as the main threats to Sea Siren extending her record to five wins from seven starts and etching her name in history.
No filly has won the Doomben 10,000 since it was first run in 1933.
Meanwhile, trainer Andrew Noblet concedes Victorian Sistine Angel will need to step up a gear to be a serious threat in the Doomben 10,000.
Sistine Angel resumed with a second to wonder mare Black Caviar at Morphettville last month before a last start third to Bonnie Mac at the same venue on May 12.
The four-year-old has only won two of her 17 starts and her primary mission in Queensland is next month’s Group One Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm.
“She had a swim when she first got off the float and she seems bright enough,” Noblet said.
“She’s probably not suited by weight-for-age but she’s only got 52 kilos in the Stradbroke.
“At her last run she got further back than we wanted and couldn’t get any momentum when another runner kept laying in on her.
“But she’s going to have to keep improving here.”
Noblet has gone for the Doomben 10,000 experience of Melbourne jockey Steven Arnold who won the race on Undue in 2006.
Sistine Angel is a $41 outsider with TAB Sportsbet with Sea Siren the $4.20 favourite.
