A nine-length loss in a maiden at Newcastle isn’t a strong selling point for a horse contesting a Group Three race, and it’s the reason Extreme Diva is the rank outsider for the San Domenico Stakes.
But emerging from the 900m contest armed with several genuine excuses after being posted three and four-deep and struggling to handle the testing track conditions, Extreme Diva continues to give trainer Anthony Cummings reason to keep the faith.
He has put a ruler through her first-up run and is happy she is ready for a competitive return to stakes company at Rosehill on Saturday.
“Typically, it’s three strikes and you’re out and she might have found four,” Cummings said of Extreme Diva’s Newcastle return where she started a $1.40 favourite.
“She dropped the jockey on the way to the barrier, then she was slow out and the thing that kicked up underneath her held her out.
“The heavy track she didn’t like and then she found a horse with unusual ability in a maiden at Newcastle.
“It’s too hard to overcome all that.”
Cummings is also mindful of Extreme Diva’s two-year-old form.
The filly managed placings behind one of the star colts of the autumn in Switzerland and subsequent ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Manaal.
Since her seasonal return, Cummings has seen a difference in Extreme Diva’s trackwork at home and given the current crop of three-year-old fillies have proven more than equal to the males on juvenile form, he has no qualms stepping her out against the males on Saturday.
“Her work since (Newcastle) has gone back to the level from last time where she was running up against the colts and running really well,” he said.
“In the autumn, the fillies were every bit as good as the colts. I wouldn’t say they were dominant, but they won plenty of races against the colts all the way through.
“They certainly don’t lose anything in comparison.”
No filly has won the San Domenico Stakes (1100m) since Snitzerland in 2012, but they had a good record prior to that through the likes of Obsequious (2010), Sliding Cube (2007), Gold Edition (2006), Media (2005) and Regimental Gal (2003).
Extreme Diva is likely to chime back into fillies’ grade after Saturday with the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on September 21 on Cummings’ radar.
He is also expecting Tristate to improve sharply on a firmer surface in the ClubsNSW Handicap (1100m) following a brace of unplaced efforts on heavy tracks.
The gelding’s last win was over Saturday’s course and distance almost 12 months ago and his overall record around the 1100m Rosehill circuit is also strong.
“His gallops have been good so no excuses. He goes there a nice chance,” Cummings said.
