Tom DabernigĀ has noticedĀ aĀ change in Fifty StarsĀ from his days at Lindsay Park andĀ sinceĀ returning to his former “home” atĀ Warrnambool.
Fifty Stars will beĀ Dabernig’sĀ first city runnerĀ since leaving Lindsay ParkĀ when he runs in the Group 1Ā MemsieĀ Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
DabernigĀ is not putting the beach down exclusively to Fifty Stars looking better,Ā but he is not discountingĀ it asĀ havingĀ anĀ effect.
Fifty Stars campaignedĀ in Brisbane during the winter, finishing second to Cox Plate favourite ZaakiĀ in theĀ HollindaleĀ Cup at theĀ GoldĀ Coast at his most recent start beforeĀ spellingĀ in the warmer climate.
“He was lucky enough to have a spell in Queensland, so he looks really well coming out of winter, probably better than he’s looked previously,”Ā DabernigĀ said.
“It was probably because he was out of the cold, but he copped a bit of a cold blast on arrival at Warrnambool, butĀ he loves the beach.
“ButĀ I got a little bit on intel that he spent a bit of time at the beach when with Darren Weir and he really does enjoy that part of it.”
Fifty StarsĀ hasĀ had a jump-out at StawellĀ andĀ one at Warrnambool,Ā last Friday, both times ridden by John Allen, whoĀ ridesĀ on Saturday.
“He’s gone well in both, but over those shorter distances he doesn’t find it easy,”Ā DabernigĀ said.
“At Stawell he was a little fresh while on Friday they went quite quickly and he was out of his comfort zone, but he’s been quite good late.
“If he runs a reasonable race, we’ll look to run him in theĀ MakybeĀ DivaĀ (September 11)Ā whichĀ won’t beĀ an easy task, but he’s a good Flemington miler.
“Depending on how he goes in those early runs will determine what we do in that middle partĀ and if runs well, we might look at being a bit more ambitious.”
TheĀ MemsieĀ StakesĀ has attracted 19 nominationsĀ including Aegon, Beau Rossa, Behemoth, Sierra Sue,Ā StreetsĀ OfĀ Avalon andĀ Tofane.
