Nasaayim overcomes slow start at Caulfield

A slow beginning followed by a moderate tempo gave punters who took the short odds about Nasaayim an empty feeling at Caulfield.

Backed from $1.50 into $1.40 in Wednesday’s Spicer Thoroughbreds Handicap (1200m), Nasaayim finally did her part in the closing stages of the two-year-old race to win by a long neck.

It wasn’t the way Lindsay Park co-trainer Tom Dabernig expected to see the filly winning, but was happy to claim the victory.

At the finish Nasaayim scored from Titan Blinders ($7.50) with Des Moines ($17) a head away third.

“I think you would have been a bit nervous if you took the short odds,” Dabernig said.

“They went extremely slow early and we expected she would be sitting forward but she jumped a bit awkwardly and she got into a spot where she was over-racing.

“She was able to overcome that, win and I think that’s another good experience for her.

“What she’s doing at two is a bonus and she has the makings of a really nice three-year-old.”

Owned by Shadwell Stud, Dabernig said connections are thinking long term, believing the filly to be a G1 Thousand Guineas and G1 VRC Oaks prospect in the spring.

“It’s in the grand plan to take her to Sydney, but we’ll just see where we get to,” Dabernig said.

“I know they won’t want us to push her if we think she’s not ready to do it.”

Dabernig said the Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Flemington on March 10 would be Nasaayim’s next start where she will be joined by stablemate Seberate, a scratching from Wednesday’s race.

After that the pair is likely to be switched to Sydney with Nasaayim in contention for the Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) while Seberate could be freshened for a tilt at the Golden Slipper or extended for a shot at Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.

Seberate was one of 23 horses paid up for in Saturday’s Blue Diamond Stakes at final acceptance time on Tuesday, but balloted from the final field.

“It was disappointing he didn’t get a start in the Blue Diamond, but we’ve always thought of him as a Sires’ horse,” Dabernig said.