Dato Day at Moonee Valley should provide plenty of insight into Darren Weir trained Anjana and David Hayes trained Spanish Whisper as they begin their Spring campaigns.
The two are set to clash in this weekend’s listed $120,000 Ladbrokes Atlantic Jewel Stakes (1200m) on Saturday following a lengthy spell, with both runners opening at favourable $5.50 odds with the race sponsor.
Alongside 13 other runners in the 15 horse field, the Atlantic Jewel Stakes features a handful of talented three-year old fillies that are well worth the watch as their Melbourne campaign continues.
Anjana looks to make it four wins from four this weekend at The Valley.
Anjana and Spanish Whisper figure as the two horses to follow though, and with both resuming from five month breaks, either is a chance to salute this weekend at The Valley.
After capturing Group 2 glory in New Zealand at the $90,000 Matamata Stakes (1200m) and also placing third in the Group 1 Sistemata Stakes in March, The Lindsay Park Stable are feeling pretty confident in their new recruit ahead of her Australian debut.
“She’ll be better as she gets over more ground, but in her trial she showed lovely speed” Hayes told Racing.com.
It’s commonplace for quality New Zealand horses to struggle during their transition to weekend racing in Australia, but Hayes fancies Spanish Whisper’s chances this weekend on the back of a nice trial.
“The gates not ideal, but I think she’ll just roll and be on the back of the speed”.
“She should give a good kick, and I really look forward to her getting toward’s the Guineas prelude and the Guineas” said Hayes.
The $500,000 Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) is the likely target for Spanish Whisper, but it’s also an ideal landing spot for Anjana in October.
The three-time winner in May/June looks to build on her success at The Valley over 1200m, but after drawing the car park with barrier 13, jockey Harry Coffey will have to execute the stable’s strategy to perfection if the three-year old is to win on Saturday.
Speedmaps certainly don’t favour Anjana, but she’s likely to drift back a little further than she normally would like to eventually race home late.
It’ll take some luck down the straight, especially with stablemate Krone likely to feature somewhere close to the placings, but it’s a race the Roll The Dice Racing team feel they can win.
“All reports are that her times have been really slick and that she’s going really well, I expect her to go a little bit more forward than Krone at the moment” Leigh Saville told Racing.com.
“She’s got the runs on the board winning a stakes race in Adelaide, but it’ll be interesting to see how she goes first up”.
Krone enters at $9.50 with Ladbrokes ahead of this weekend’s Atlantic Jewel Stakes, while Spanish Whisper is at long $26.00 odds in early future’s markets for the Thousand Guineas.
