Boogie Dancer charged her way into Thousand Guineas contention with a brilliant win in one of the key lead-up events at Caulfield on Saturday.
The Peter Moody-trained filly was not quite as dominant as Aft Cabin, who took a stranglehold on Caulfield Guineas favouritism with his win in the colts and geldings’ Prelude, but she still had 3-1/4 lengths to spare over her nearest rival at the end of the 1400-metre Group 2 fillies’ division.
The daughter of Sooboog shares $8 second favouritism with Zougotcha, an impressive winner of the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes in Sydney earlier in the day, in TAB’s Thousand Guineas market, which is headed by In Secret ($7).
Boogie Dancer is raced by a big group of Wylie Dalziel owners and the syndicator, who has raced many horses with Moody, is now dreaming of his biggest wins in the sport.
“I’m biased, but we’re in one of the best camps with Peter Moody and Jeff O’Connor and Katherine Coleman and all the team,” Dalziel said.
“Jeff and Moods have been together for a long, long time and they are one of the best for setting horses for feature races.
“The way she’s won today, we’re off to the Thousand Guineas. It’s a great day.”
Boogie Dancer took her record to four wins from six starts with her Prelude win, which followed a sixth placing in the Listed Atlantic Jewel Stakes (1200m) at The Valley.
Winning jockey Luke Nolen said the team’s confidence grew when the big downpour that caused the track to be downgraded to Heavy and the meeting to be delayed hit and he rode her to her strengths.
“I was always going to be second half (of the field) anyway and rode her to be strongest late,” Nolen said.
“I was speaking to a form man before today, he does my maps, and he said a few of these might be suspect at 1400 (metres).
“That was on a drier deck, so this was always going to play into my hands when it softened right up.
“She’ll probably go to the beach for a week now and have a couple of tick over gallops and she’ll be right for the final.”
The $1 million Thousand Guineas (1600m) will be run at Caulfield on October 12.
