A horse being scratched twice in a short space of time can often be cause for concern, but Clinton Mcdonald hinted it was anything but the case with Miss Ole.
The Ole Kirk filly was withdrawn from a $65,000 race at Flemington’s New Year’s Eve meeting, having earlier been taken out of Caulfield Heath meeting on December 20 due to a wide gate.
McDonald has settled on the $150,000 Brandt Colac 3YO Handicap at Saturday’s Coastal Classic meeting at Geelong as the most appropriate first-up option for the filly he has Group 1 aspirations with.
“I think she’s going well enough to win first-up, we just needed to have the right ducks in a line to push the button,” McDonald said.
Saturday’s 1100-metre event, in which Miss Ole will clash with classy types Job Done, Faraway Dream and Royal Rendezvous, will be her first start since making it back-to-back wins at Flemington on June 7.
Her only other start was a debut fifth placing in the VOBIS Gold Strike at Warrnambool during the May Carnival.
Miss Ole was being readied for the Spring Carnival before struck down by an infection and McDonald is glad he took the cautious route and turned her out.
“We just said ‘no, let’s stop’, because she was on heavy antibiotics and that’s when you stuff them, when you try and force them back,” he said.
“The owners were patient, gave her a spell and came back, and she’s right to go now.”
Miss Ole heads into Saturday’s race off two low-key trials and is being directed towards the Group 3 Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on January 24, where McDonald hopes she will prove herself worthy of a shot at even bigger races.
“She’s growing into a good type of filly, she’s going to be a nice three-year-old in the autumn,” McDonald said.
“We’re hoping that she can get to Adelaide for a Sangster, or somewhere like that if she keeps going the way she’s going.
“We thought if we can get these two runs under her belt (we’d) then back off her and come into Adelaide with a little freshen up.”
The Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) is restricted to fillies and mares and will be run at Morphettville in late April.
Ben Melham will partner Miss Ole at Geelong with the pair to jump from barrier five in the field of 11.
