Trainer Grahame Begg and the connections of Butter Chicken held hopes the three-year-old would have been a contender for some of the big filly’s races during the autumn.
Instead, Butter Chicken was in the paddock recovering from a set-back after only three starts.
A Pakenham maiden winner at her second start, Butter Chicken then jumped straight to stakes level, finishing second in the Group 2 Autumn Classic (1800m) at Caulfield in February.
That was the last time the filly was seen, but the good news is Butter Chicken is back in work preparing for the spring.
Begg said he doubted Butter Chicken’s rating would be high enough for her to get into the Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup and instead the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on the final day of 2021 Melbourne Cup week could be a target.
He said the extra money thrown at the Group 2 Zipping Classic (2400m) in late November also makes that an enticing race.
The Zipping Classic has been moved from Sandown and will be run two weeks later this year at Caulfield.
Begg said the daughter of Savabeel had been in work around three weeks and would be taken along quietly.
“She had a minor set-back so we had to give her a bit longer out in the paddock which wasn’t ideal,” Begg said.
“And what we’ll possibly look at is going races like the Matriarch Stakes or the Zipping Classic as those races give me a bit more time to get her going.
“And the Zipping might work to her favour.
“To be truthful, her rating would not be high enough to get in the Cups this year, so we’ve just got to concentrate on winning where we can, get her rating up and then we might look at something bigger in the autumn.”
