If ever there was a filly bred to run a staying trip in Australia, Rotating Soul fits that bill.
A daughter of Soul Patch from Carousel Queen in the Ken & Kasey Keys stable, Rotating Soul has to date only had one run short of 1800m in her 10 starts career.
Rotating Soul heads to the MRC Chairman’s Club Handicap (2400m) on Saturday trying to pinch a city win against her own age before turning four.
Soul Patch was trained by Ken Keys and ran third in the Victoria Derby as a three-year-old while Carousel Queen is a half-sister to another former Keys-trained galloper Like A Carousel who won a Pakenham Cup (2500m), ran in Adelaide Cup and Sydney Cup and was a winner over jumps.
Kasey Keys said right from the outset Rotating Soul had shown she wanted ground and on debut ran in the VRC Oaks Preview (1800m) at Flemington last September.
The filly was stepped up to 2025m for her second start and then 2200m for start number three before a spell beckoned.
Returning in March, Rotating Soul finished fourth first-up over 1800m at Sandown before gradually increasing in trip with the Group 3 SA Fillies Classic (2500m) at Morphettville in May her aim.
Unfortunately for the father-and-daughter training partnership, Rotating Soul could not get into the contest, finishing in the second half of the field.
“She was slowly away and couldn’t get up near the lead, which is her running style,” Keys said.
“She’s a big striding horse and needs all the room she can get.”
Returning from Adelaide, the Keys’ set about winning a maiden race with the filly and headed to Sale to finish second, before another second on the synthetic at Pakenham before breaking through at her most recent outing at that venue.
“I think it was well deserved. She had been thereabouts at every start,” Keys said.
“Her work at home had shown that and we had great faith in the family.
“We wanted to try and get a maiden win with her, and those Pakenham races were the best ones we had available and the distance on Saturday is what she’s looking for.
“Hopefully she gets away well and can put herself up there as it’s her last chance to win a Saturday city race as a three-year-old.
“She’s related to Like A Carousel and it took him something like 15 starts to break his maiden, so she’s not doing too badly.”
