Ortensia is poised to start a campaign which could be her last on a stage a long way removed from her international Group One triumphs.
Trainer Paul Messara will use a race named in the mare’s honour during the Scone Cup carnival as a foundation sprint for a possible Brisbane trip where she has been nominated for the Doomben 10,000 and the Stradbroke Handicap.
“I’m happy with her but whether she is going as well as she was 12 months ago is yet to be seen,” Messara said.
A year ago, Ortensia was settling into training in England having just claimed the Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night.
She opened her northern hemisphere program with a disappointing Royal Ascot result but soon regained her best form to win at Goodwood before her Group One Nunthorpe Stakes success.
Messara said it was in less-than-ideal circumstances in which Ortensia tuned up for her return to racing with a Randwick barrier trial placing on Friday.
The trial, in which Nash Rawiller rode the mare, didn’t work out as Messara wanted except for the fact she came through it unscathed.
“She got a bit further back in the trial than anticipated and they crawled and sprinted home,” Messara said.
“It wasn’t really what we were after but the main thing for me is that she has come through it very sound.
“She didn’t have the blinkers on in the trial but they will go on for Scone.”
Messara said it was unlikely Ortensia would race on beyond the Queensland winter carnival.
“Realistically this would be her last preparation,” he said.
“I highly doubt she would be racing on in the spring unless she did so in foal.”
The rising eight-year-old will resume in the Ortensia Stakes, a Listed race carrying $140,000 in stakes, on May 18.
Scone officials are confident they will be able to present a fair racing surface for their two-day carnival.
Runners finished closer to the outside fence than the inside at the club’s April 19 meeting but four horses, partnered by jockeys who usually ride at every Scone meeting, galloped in front of stewards on Friday.
They raced four abreast on the inside section and the jockeys, including Australian record holder Robert Thompson, were unanimous the track “provided a perfect racing surface”.
