A disappointing gallop by a stablemate during the week has prompted a race switch for Ole Dancer into the fillies’ edition of a Stakes event at Flemington.

The Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-prepared Sheza Alibi was originally slated to begin her autumn preparation in the Listed Desirable Stakes (1400m) on Saturday, while Ole Dancer was due to face older mares in the Group 3 Frances Tressady Stakes (1400m).

However, Sheza Alibi failed to impress in her latest workout on Tuesday, leading to the plan to swap the pair.

Moody noted that the Desirable Stakes represents the easier choice of the two for Ole Dancer, pitting her against fillies her own age.

“She’s not wound up or screwed down as we’re mindful of not wanting her to have a gut-buster 14 days before the Surround, which is a Group 1, and ultimately, we want to be going around two or three runs after that,” Moody said.

“Class will take her a long way, unless one of the other fillies really jumps out of the ground, so I would suggest it would be hard to see her getting beat.”

The Group 1 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 28 was the long-term goal for Ole Dancer since her spell following victory in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) last spring.

Ole Dancer boasts three victories from five outings, with Moody attributing her losses to poor draws.

He believes with better luck she might be unbeaten and following in the footsteps of her renowned relative Black Caviar, namesake of Saturday’s headline race, the Black Caviar Lightning.

Ole Dancer’s sire Ole Kirk shares bloodlines with Black Caviar, being out of a half-sister.

“The times she got beat she had bad barriers, so we rode her stone cold and she ran home super,” Moody said of Ole Dancer.

“We’ve probably got to ride her cold on Saturday, seven of seven, and the filly of Danny O’Brien’s (Sass Appeal) probably leads and controls the tempo and is probably the one we have to beat.

“It’s not going to be an easy task, but it will be a nice gallop for her, the track looks enormous and the rain we had on Wednesday is the best thing that has happened to every track in Victoria.

“All being well, this will lead us to the Surround in a couple of weeks.”

Check out the racing betting markets at Australian betting sites for the Desirable Stakes.

The post Race switch to suit Ole Dancer first appeared on Just Horse Racing.