Snitty Kitty will be out to deliver on a long-range plan in the Group One Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield.
Trainer Henry Dwyer pinpointed the Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield as Snitty Kitty’s best opportunity to try to snare a Group One win.
The four-year-old mare heads into Saturday’s 1100m handicap on the back of a first-up defeat but Dwyer is convinced the sprinter has improved since her second as the short-priced favourite in the W J Adams Stakes (1000m) on February 3.
“She was always going to need the run (first-up) and I probably just underestimated how much she would need the run,” Dwyer said.
“She was always going to improve significantly off it. We’ve just had to probably do a bit more in that three week period than we thought we would have at the time.
“I think fitness-wise she’s pretty close to the mark now.”
Snitty Kitty has won six of her 12 starts including the Group Two Caulfield Sprint last spring, after which she was spelled with the Oakleigh Plate in mind.
Snitty Kitty has drawn wide in a capacity field of 18 plus two emergencies and is likely to use her speed and surge forward, while under the condensed weight scale she has to carry 53.5kg.
Weights had to be raised 1.5kg at acceptance time on Wednesday after connections of Chautauqua opted against paying up.
The 2016 winner Flamberge will carry topweight of 57kg while She Will Reign’s weight has gone from 51.5kg to 53kg which has paved the way for jockey Ben Melham to continue his association with the star filly.
Melham has been declared as She Will Reign’s rider.
Melham won the Golden Slipper on She Will Reign last year but had to give up the ride on the filly when she won the Group One Moir Stakes first-up in the spring and also when unplaced in The Everest because the 50kg and 51kg she carried in those races were below his range.
The Melbourne jockey rode She Will Reign to a first-up win in the Inglis Sprint in Sydney on February 10.
She Will Reign has drawn gate 17 and will jump from 15 if the emergencies don’t get a start.
Russian Revolution, unbeaten in three first-up attempts, was the $4.60 favourite on Wednesday ahead of She Will Reign ($6.50).
Snitty Kitty was at $9.50.
