Katherine Coleman admits it’s an exciting time for her and co-trainer Peter Moody as their star fillies Ole Dancer and Sheza Alibi gear up ahead of Autumn campaigns.
Having gone into the Spring apprehensive about the stable’s top end talent, Ole Dancer provided Coleman with her first Group 1 win in Melbourne, taking out the Thousand Guineas (1600m) over boom filly Apocalyptic.
Sent to the paddock after that win in October paved the way for Sheza Alibi to emerge, winning the Group 2 Vanity Stakes (1400m) at Flemington before a dominant 5.8 length victory in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1600m) in mid-November.
It sparked the question of which filly might have the wood over the other, but Coleman said the stable would look to target separate Group 1 races in the Autumn as the pair increase their workload ahead of their first public hit out.
“Both have come back in really good order,” Coleman said.
“They’ll have their first jump out, not this Tuesday, but the following Tuesday, then probably a week in between.
“First jump out will just be soft. They won’t be asked to do anything. They’ll have another more serious one in either a week or a fortnight.”
“I think we will try and split them, because Sheza Alibi had such a deep Spring, we’ll probably look to keep her here in Victoria whereas Ole Dancer we’ll likely take to Sydney.”
Coleman confirmed that the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) will be Sheza Alibi’s target, while Ole Dancer will look to the Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m), both on February 28.
“Both of them are really exciting, and the other filly that has come back really well is Alpha Sofie, she won the Atlantic Jewel at Moonee Valley,” Coleman said.
“She’s probably more of a short course, whereas the other two fillies will get a bit further, so it’s very exciting.”
