Group Two winning filly Pinmedown will be back in action at Te Rapa on Saturday when she contests the Maara Grange Rehabilitation And Fencing Premier (1600m).
The Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard-trained daughter of Pins is being set for a tilt at the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) and resumes from a short break after her tenth placing in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) last month.
“She has had a freshen-up since the Oaks,” Gerard said. “She had a week off and we just backed off her a little bit.
“We were originally going to go to Sydney, but the way that the weather was and the prospect of bumping into Verry Elleegant, we opted to give it a miss and save her for Brisbane.”
Gerard is expecting a forward showing from the three-year-old filly over a mile.
“It is short of her best distance, but she is a really good galloper and her work the other morning was very good,” she said.
“From the draw (2) she doesn’t have to do any work, she only has to sit and relax and I think we will see her run over the top of them. She is pretty fresh.”
Pinmedown will use the Gr.2 The Roses (2000m) at Doomben on May 18 as a launching pad to the Queensland Oaks.
“She will be very competitive over there. I have no reservations about sending her over,” Gerard said.
The stable will also be represented at Te Rapa by She's A Thief in an ultra-competitive edition of the Gr.3 Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m).
Like Pinmendown, She's A Thief will likely be jetting to Queensland on May 3 with the aim of targeting Australian black-type.
She’s A Thief finished tenth to Emily Margaret on an off track at Trentham last start and Gerard believes she is capable of winning on Saturday.
“It was a good run at Trentham, but she was down in the worst of the ground and she hates a wet track,” Gerard said.
“She is a big striding filly that tries her heart out every time but she just couldn’t get a grip in that ground. She really needs a good track.
“This is probably one of the best three-year-old races of the season. There are not a lot of opportunities for them at this time of the year and it always brings out a very good field.
“There are a lot of very fast horses in there that are drawn outside her, which suits us just fine, she can sit just behind them or wherever really.”
She’s A Thief is likely to be aimed at the Listed Bright Shadow Quality (1200m) at Doomben on May 18.
“We’re there to get some Australian black-type,” Gerard said.
“There is nothing left in New Zealand for three-year-olds that can only run 1200m or 1400m. In Brisbane there is a race every week, so if it is a wet track one week, we can just wait for a better track the next.”
Also bound for Brisbane will be the stable’s Group One winner On The Rocks, despite beating just one runner home in last week’s Gr.2 Easter Handicap (1600m).
“He was a little bit flat-footed with the 59kgs on his back at Ellerslie but I wouldn’t read too much into it,” Gerard said.
“He is a horse that in the middle stages of his races needs to get up on the bit and then he seems to pick up another gear.
“He was just chasing him the whole way and there was nothing wrong with his run and he needed the hit-out. He will go straight into the Doomben Cup (Gr.1, 2000m).”
