Trainer Grahame Begg’s stable is opting for a late-season weight-for-age event to mark the beginning of an early spring campaign.
Miraval Rose is slated to compete in the Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes over 1100 metres at Caulfield this Saturday. This will be her first race since finishing fourth in the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill back in November.
The now rising six-year-old mare bypassed the autumn racing season due to what Begg termed ‘a minor setback, nothing serious’, but she has since recovered well and is ready for her return.
Miraval Rose has participated in three trials or jump-outs to prepare for her Saturday engagement. She secured second place over 800 metres in May, followed by another second in a Caulfield Heath trial over 900 metres on June 11. She then claimed victory in a 1000-metre jump-out on the Pakenham Synthetic track on June 23.
Begg acknowledged that Saturday’s race is shorter than Miraval Rose’s preferred distance but stressed that it’s a strategic move for her long-term preparation.
He indicated that Miraval Rose is likely to proceed to the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on July 25, followed by an ambitious tilt at some of the premier early-season weight-for-age races.
“She had a little bit of a setback, nothing major, and that’s why she didn’t race in the autumn,” Begg stated. “We’ve brought her up nice and steady, but she’s not really well suited on the ground. She’s trialled good, she’s prepped up good, but there was nothing for her, so that’s why we’ve spaced her trials. She’s OK on the soft, but hopefully we get a fairly good rest of the week, while the 1100 metres is probably a bit short of her best distance. It’s probably not ideal, but it’s a matter of getting a run under her belt and then she can push on to the Bletchingly after that. We’re trying to get a bit of fitness on the other ones late in the season and then she might be able to go on to the PB Lawrence (1400m at Caulfield on August 15), or something like that, or there’s those mares’ races in the early spring.”
Miraval Rose demonstrated strong early form last spring. Following a third-place finish first-up at Moonee Valley, she went on to win at the same track before securing the Group 2 Rose Of Kingston Stakes (1400m) at Flemington in October.
Harry Coffey will ride the mare for the first time this Saturday.
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