Champion trainer Chris Waller made a special trip to Caulfield to watch Fangirl go through her paces ahead of the Group 1 Memsie Stakes.
Fangirl was scratched from the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick last Saturday and floated to Melbourne that night to run in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Waller said it was equally important for him to see how Fangirl handled the Caulfield circuit and its surrounds ahead of Saturday’s contest.
Tuesday’s visit to Caulfield was Fangirl’s first, but the way she handled it, it was as if she had been to the course many times before.
“She’s a sweet girl. Nothing fazes her and race day, you press the button and she explodes,” Waller said.
“If she gets around Caulfield, she will be exciting to watch.”
Waller saw enough in Fangirl’s work to suggest she will not have any problems handling the Caulfield circuit.
Fangirl, with race jockey Mark Zahra aboard, sat off stablemate Moira in a comfortable workout.
“It was nice work. She had a good look around and that was the reason for coming,” Waller said.
“She’s pretty fit, she was ready to race last week.
“She travelled down on Saturday night and has settled in well to the Flemington stable and had a good look this morning.
“She changed legs at the right time, had a look up the straight as you would expect.
“She’s always on her game, but conditions are the key to her, but I think she’s got the right profile for Caulfield.
“She’s won in Victoria before, and she’s had a couple of trips down here since.”
“She’s a good horse.”
Waller said he had picked a tough year to head to the Memsie with Fangirl but is convinced the mare can beat the opposition.
“Barrier draws and luck in running can play a big factor, but if luck goes her way, she can be fighting out the finish,” Waller said.
Waller said he was undecided who would join Fangirl from his stable with Moira, Anisette and Buckaroo also entered.
The trainer said he was favouring holding back Moira for the So You Think Stakes (1500m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday week as a lead-up to the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield on September 20.
“I want to run her in a Group 1 as she is a Breeders’ Cup winner and that’s the only thing missing from her amazing resume, an Australian Group 1,” Waller said.
“I’m think Moonee Valley 1500 metres might be a better stepping stone into the Underwood and I’m thinking that could be her race.”
Waller said Anisette was not far behind Moira and distance wise is similar.
“We’ll probably run one of them (in the Memsie) and she’s an 1800-metre, 2000-metre horse as well like Moira,” Waller said.
Buckaroo galloped in Sydney on Tuesday and Waller is weighing up whether to start the gelding in the Memsie or wait a week for the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
“He won the Underwood last year and I’d love to get him back for it, but to run in it, he would need to run this week,” Waller said.
“Otherwise, we could go Tramway, Hill Stakes, Craven Plate, along those lines in Sydney.
“Since the Melbourne Cup (last year), he hasn’t quite found that form. It was a tough run for him, but I am confident, as we saw last spring, that he can get back to that form.”
