Godolphin trainer James Cummings is not sure what to make of Zardozi ahead of her latest outing at Flemington.
Zardozi heads to the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) on Saturday having finished last in her return run at Randwick behind Fangirl in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1600m) on February 25.
In Zardozi’s favour is her liking for the Flemington circuit, where she is a winner twice, placed second once, while her last two starts at the track she has finished fifth and fourth.
Zardozi finished a closing fifth in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) then three days later ran a brave fourth to Knight’s Choice in the Melbourne Cup (3200m).
But Cummings is concerned by barrier nine in the 11-horse field and just where Zardozi may get to in the run on Saturday.
He concedes it will take expert navigation by Jamie Melham to get the mare home second-up.
“I’m not sure whether it’s going to work out perfectly for her from that set-up,” Cummings said.
“It might be all right, with a neutral ride from the draw and she might be steaming home.
“I like what she did first-up, even though we knew she was going to need the run, and she will enjoy getting back to Flemington.
“There’s not a lot of pace on paper but I would be looking for her to be running on.”
The Cummings team will saddle Chergui in the Listed TAB We’re On (1000m) who will be out to book his place in the $1 million VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m) at Caulfield on March 15.
Chergui ran second on debut at Randwick in December before running seventh in the Listed Lonhro Plate (1000m) at Randwick on February 8.
“He’s come on nicely from that last run,” Cummings said.
“In the Lonhro Plate, from barrier four he was facing the breeze when riders didn’t really want to cross to the rail.
“Forgive the horse, give him another chance.”
