David Hayes believes Miss Promiscuity is the best chance of his stable’s Sir John Monash Stakes runners but admits the outside barrier is less than ideal for the mare, as she seeks her first stakes win.
Hayes also has 2013 winner Pago Rock in Saturday’s weight-for-age sprint at Caulfield and the seven-year-old will jump from the inside barrier as he bids to repeat his success of two years ago.
“I just feel that Miss Promiscuity is going very, very well but will need a lot of luck from that barrier,” Hayes said.
“Pago Rock is in great, consistent form and has blinkers back on, so he could pull one out.
“I would lean to Miss Promiscuity but the barrier draw levels them up a bit. I’d expect them to be pretty close to weighing in, without being over-confident of winning.”
Miss Promiscuity is at $15 while Pago Rock is at $21 after his last-start fourth to Hard Romp at Flemington.
Lord Of The Sky, runner-up in his past two starts at Group One level, is an odds-on favourite to win the Monash for a second-straight year after scoring by 4-1/4 lengths 12 months ago in his most recent win.
Four-year-old Miss Promiscuity was also nominated for a mares’ race over 1200m but connections opted for the stakes race.
She has twice been runner-up at Group level – last season in the Typhoon Tracy Stakes – and in the Proud Miss Stakes in Adelaide two starts ago.
A first-up winner at Caulfield in April in fillies and mares’ grade, Miss Promiscuity then finished second twice to subsequent Dane Ripper Stakes winner Hazard before failing at Moonee Valley last start.
Hayes felt the track was a bit shifty for her at the Valley and that the gear change from blinkers to winkers failed.
Like Pago Rock, she has blinkers back on for Saturday.
“We took them off and she didn’t fire so we think that’s why she ran poorly the other day,” Hayes said.
“I’d forget her last run.”
