Perfect Dare tackles the Group Three Sunshine Coast Guineas as part of a long-range plan trainer Matt Dunn hopes will be fulfilled next season.
Perfect Dare has been one of unluckiest horses of the Queensland winter carnival with a third in the Fred Best Classic and then fifths in the Queensland Guineas and Daybreak Lover Stakes.
Dunn has a big opinion of Perfect Dare who he believes has the ability to get to the top and will have his first test at 1600 metres on Saturday.
“He just hasn’t had any luck in his three-year-old year,” Dunn said.
“Perfect Dare really wants firm tracks but he has run into soft going and also struck trouble in his races,” Dunn said.
“Even when we took him to Sydney last year he ran two seconds and probably should have won both. The fact he was second and not the winner cost him a start in the Magic Millions Three-Year-Old race.”
“I have no doubt that had he got a start in that race he would have been very hard to beat.”
It is with that in mind, Dunn has decided to aim Perfect Dare towards the Magic Millions day in January.
A win on Saturday would ensure Perfect Dare has enough prize money and a high enough rating to make the Magic Millions races.
“At this stage I am leaning towards the Millions carnival as his long-range target.”
“He will go for a spell after Saturday’s race and we will see how he comes back. He is very well bred by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare so he should get further than 1600 metres,” Dunn said.
“It means we might even look at the Magic Millions Stayers’ race. Then there is the Sydney autumn or Brisbane winter as options for him.”
“But we will get a better idea after he tackles 1600 metres on the big Caloundra track.”
It has been another good season for Dunn who has been training at Murwillumbah for the past five years and is third on the Brisbane premiership with 29 winners.
“It has been a real team effort and we have some nice horses coming through,” he said.
