Michael Freedman is hoping to learn more about two of his emerging colts when lightly raced pair Moravia and Ducasse contest feature three-year-old races at Rosehill.
However, his duo will now be heavily reliant on luck after coming up with difficult draws in their respective assignments.
Lining up for just his third start, Moravia has gate 11 of 12 in the Group 2 The Run To The Rose (1200m), while Ducasse has drawn the extreme outside in the capacity field of 18 plus one emergency for the Group 2 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m).
While the gates make their tasks harder, both have put the writing on the wall at their previous starts, Moravia making a particularly rapid rise from a maiden win at Newcastle on debut to beat all but Libertad in the San Domenico Stakes (1100m).
An $800,000 Magic Millions purchase, Moravia will need to raise the bar again in Saturday’s Golden Rose lead-up where he will face a rematch with Libertad while also taking on the likes of Golden Slipper placegetters Cylinder and Don Corleone, and dual Group 1 winner Militarize.
“Moravia’s was a good effort coming off a maiden at Newcastle,” Freedman said of the horse’s San Domenico performance.
“It was a big step up. It will be exciting if he can take the next step and he seems to be in good order.”
Ducasse is in his second preparation and had a seasoning trip to Brisbane at two where he turned in a solid effort to finish midfield in the Group 2 Champagne Classic (1200m) at Doomben in May.
He was luckless when resuming in the Up And Coming Stakes (1300m), enduring a chequered passage in the straight before hitting the line stylishly for a late-closing fourth behind Tom Kitten.
“Ducasse was probably pretty stiff. He never got much galloping room at any stage and he seems to have come through the run well,” Freedman said.
“Hopefully we can get a bit more luck for both.
“They’re different types of horses. Ducasse gives me the impression he’ll enjoy eventually getting over a mile, whereas I think Moravia can stretch to 14, but he’s essentially a six or seven-furlong type of horse.”
The Run To The Rose is a key lead-up to the Golden Rose (1400m) with six horses having completed the double, most recently Bivouac in 2019.