Trainer Edward O’Rourke hopes Frolic’s eye-catching finish in her racing comeback isn’t counterproductive when she takes on a quality Surround Stakes field.
Last year’s Golden Slipper runner-up recovered from a sluggish start in the Group Two Light Fingers Stakes to place fourth, 1-3/4 lengths behind winner Alizee.
O’Rourke, who took over training Frolic when Michael Freedman moved to Hong Kong last year, gave the filly a pass mark before sounding a note of caution ahead of Saturday’s new Group one at Randwick.
‘She ‘s come through that last run quite good, the only thing I’m afraid is the second-up syndrome where horses can flatten out after a long period off,” he said.
O’Rourke acknowledged the three-year-old would have to lift her performance to be competitive in her second start over 1400m.
Frolic recorded the worst finish of her career over that trip in the Group One Sires’ Produce Stakes last April, her last run before she underwent surgery to remove bone chips.
But O’Rourke is willing to that seventh placing a fortnight after she finished runner-up to She Will Reign in the Golden Slipper.
“It was at the end of a long campaign and she’s had a massive run in the Slipper on heavy ground that could’ve knocked the edge off,” he said.
The Irishman also has the Coolmore Classic and Emancipation Stakes on the agenda leading into the Queen Of The Turf at Randwick on April 14 but that schedule depends on how Frolic fares in the Surround Stakes.
“It’ll be interesting to see if she gets the 1400 or if she’s just a genuine sprinter,” O’Rourke said.
Alizee opened the $2.10 favourite on Wednesday to record back-to-back victories with Frolic at $9.
