The Peter Snowden stable believes Saturday is the perfect time for Pied A Terre to take on older horses and tackle a black-type race for the first time in the Chester Manifold Stakes at Flemington.
The three-year-old, unbeaten in three starts, earned a start in the Listed 1400m feature with his first-up victory over Smokin’ Joey over 1200m at Moonee Valley on December 31.
“I think he deserves a chance in this,” Melbourne stable foreman Paul Snowden said.
“It’s early January and the strength of the main horses isn’t there yet so it’s a perfect time to tackle this grade of horse.
“If he didn’t win as well as he did first-up he was going to be running in the three-year-old race on Saturday.
“It was either way but I think he deserves a crack.”
Mark Zahra rides Pied A Terre who drew the outside barrier, 13.
“He can overcome it if he’s good enough,” Snowden said.
The stable is looking at tackling the Group Two Autumn Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 11 should the Ad Valorem gelding run up to expectations on Saturday.
Pied A Terre is out of a half-sister to Group Three Tokyo City Cup winner Graceful Encounter while his grand-dam is dual Group Two winner Shavano Miss.
He is a clear $3.20 favourite with TAB Sportsbet ahead of Second Effort ($7.50), There’s Only One ($8), Shadowfax ($9), Mr Make Believe ($9.50) with At The Heads and Let’s Be Happy at $10 and By The Way at $11.
The Peter Moody stable has three runners – Mr Make Believe, to be ridden by Michael Walker, Shout Out Loud (Dwayne Dunn) and There’s Only One (Luke Nolen).
The best chance of the trio appears to be Testa Rossa four-year-old There’s Only One who is after her sixth straight win, the latest being first-up over 1200m in a mares 0-89 Handicap at Caulfield on December 26.
The Robbie Griffiths-trained Danzylum, to be ridden by Steven King, is chasing his third successive win in the Chester Manifold but looks to have the job ahead with topweight of 60kg.
Meanwhile, former Snowden-trained stablemates Scarf, Soul and Dysphonia arrived in Dubai on Wednesday morning to be trained for suitable ratings races over the World Cup carnival at Meydan for their new stable, Godolphin.
AAP TURF
