A win at her first start for a new stable has earned lightly raced four-year-old Abohar a shot at black-type company in the Frances Tressady Stakes.
Trainer Brendan McCarthy will give Abohar her chance in the Group Three race at Flemington on Saturday after the mare won a midweek race at Sandown last month.
Formerly trained by Richard Laming, Abohar raced on the speed to win a 1300m-benchmark race for fillies and mares on February 17.
“She’s continued to do well since the race and we thought we’d have a crack at a bit of black type,” McCarthy said.
“It’s a Group Three race. They had the 1400-metre Group race last Saturday at Caulfield for the mares as well, so one of them has to hopefully weaken up a little bit. Hopefully it’s this one.”
Fellow Caulfield trainer Luke Oliver opted to save Jessy Belle for the Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m) instead of taking on exciting mare Azkadellia in the Mannerism Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday, believing this week’s race would be the easier option.
McCarthy has had Abohar in his care for about eight weeks and believes she is can be competitive in mares stakes grade but whether that’s as soon as Saturday remains to be seen.
“I don’t know whether at this stage we’ve completely got her at her best because she’s still learning and hasn’t had a lot of racing,” McCarthy said.
“But she’s stepping up and improving. I think there’s quite a bright future for her. I think she’s got an excellent chance of running in the money.”
