Chris Waller is hoping to see a bit more from Fangirl and Lindermann in the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
The pair contested the Winx Stakes behind stablemate Autumn Glow and finished 10th and 9th respectively, and while Waller was happy enough to excuse their runs in a strongly run race, the champion trainer did admit the end could be near for the eight-year-old mare.
A four-time Group One winner, Fangirl was beaten 7.4 lengths in the Winx Stakes, the biggest margin defeat in her career.
“Fangirl, she’ll probably race and it’ll be a deciding run for her,” Waller said.
“It was a strong run race and the backmarkers struggled to get into it.
“It’s a bit of a turning point for her, she owes us nothing, if she wants to race, she’ll race on but if she wants to be a mum then she’ll go be a mum.”
Last year’s Chelmsford winner Lindermann managed to bounce out of a Winx Stakes 10th to Via Sistina leading in and Waller is expecting sharp improvement from the seven-year-old gelding.
“Lindermann was just at his top throughout, Hughy (Bowman) said he was just out of his comfort zone there,” Waller said.
“I think what we found on Saturday if you weren’t rock hard fit, it was a tough race.
“And that showed the class of Autumn Glow and obviously Sheza Alibi, because it showed up Aeliana, it showed up Fangirl and it showed up Lindermann, they were a bit soft but that’s a good starting point for the preparation.”
The pair will likely be joined by the resuming Asterix, who was last seen winning the Group 3 Tattersall’s Cup (2400m) at Eagle Farm, with Waller suggesting he’d be seen in Melbourne for a potential Caulfield Cup preparation after Saturday.
Lindermann is on the second line of betting for Saturday’s Chelmsford Stakes behind Ceolwulf, who finished fifth in the Winx Stakes and has been cleared to race after he was found to have small traces of blood in one nostril post his first-up run.