A wet Sunshine Coast track has trainer John Thompson enthusiastic about Nieta’s prospects to snap a more than year-long wait for a win.
But while she may have conditions to suit, Nieta will face formidable opposition from her elder sibling Tumbler who is the market leader for Saturday’s Listed Lightning Handicap (1000m) ahead of her half-sister.
Five-year-old Nieta’s latest victory was at Randwick during the 2017 autumn carnival on heavy ground while the Barry Lockwood-trained Tumbler has only raced on soft for two wins from three attempts.
Nieta, who started her racing in career in Queensland with Thompson’s brother Glen, has fashioned an impressive record on rain-affected ground.
“She’s been racing on hard tracks the last two preparations and she’s been feeling the effects of that so getting a wet track on Saturday is very much what we’ve been looking for,” Thompson said.
Tumbler’s career has been restricted to 10 starts through various injuries.
Of those 10, she has won seven and goes to the Sunshine Coast for her first start for 10 months with Lockwood happy to see the track improve from heavy to soft.
The last siblings to fight out a stakes race in Brisbane were Spirit Of Boom who beat Temple Of Boom in a close finish to the 2014 Doomben 10,000.
