Honest mare Kalandula will skip her chance at a stakes race in NSW to tackle open company for the first time in Brisbane.
Trainer Bruce Hill had entered Kalandula, a last-start Doomben winner, for the Listed Mona Lisa fillies and mares race at Wyong on Friday.
However, Hill elected to let Kalandula join her talented stablemate Teronado in the Programmed Property Services Handicap (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday.
“I do think Kalandula deserves a chance at stakes races. But she is coming to the end of her campaign and I didn’t want to knock her around with a trip away,” Hill said.
“She is very honest. Any mare who can win seven races is handy and I think she is up to open company on Saturday with the minimum weight.”
The mare was an impressive winner at Doomben two weeks ago and drops 3kg on that win in Saturday’s race.
“She has been getting big weights in benchmark races so the weight should suit her,” Hill said.
Kalandula is raced by a syndicate headed by Hill’s largest owner Steve Foster who paid $120,000 for her at the 2012 Magic Millions Yearling Sales.
“She is by Commands and has already returned $161,000 in prize money so she will be a nice broodmare later,” Hill said.
Foster is also a senior partner in Teronado who is on the comeback trail from a career-threatening injury.
Teronado, who was third in Criterion’s 2014 Rosehill Guineas, was on the Caulfield Cup trail when he was badly stripped on a hind leg in the George Main Stakes at Randwick.
There was a question mark on him racing again but a long spell seems to have helped the injury heal.
“It has been a long road back but he has improved with each of his two trials and his last start when seventh at Doomben two weeks ago,” Hill said.
“It was hard to get a line through the first run at Doomben because the rail was out so far. But he did what we hoped and made ground in the straight.”
