Pakenham trainer Charlotte Littlefield is choosing to bypass lucrative interstate opportunities with Concord Connie, instead setting her sights on a Group 1 win in Victoria.
The exciting mare, Concord Connie, has completed four weeks of preliminary work as she prepares for her comeback, with the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival serving as the ultimate goal.
This strategic decision means the mare will forgo a trip to Sydney for the $10 million Golden Eagle, a race that recently attained Group 1 status.
The rising four-year-old has competed in just four races to date, impressively winning her past three starts, with the last two of those victories coming at Flemington, the most recent on May 16.
Littlefield is planning a conservative starting point for Concord Connie, aiming to improve her handicap rating prior to the Spring Carnival.
“She’s probably just a touch ahead of schedule so we’ve probably got a bit of time to sit back and relax a little bit, just take her through gently and not rush her,” Littlefield remarked.
“She had four-and-a-half or five weeks out and she wasn’t a horse that loved being out in the paddock.
“She actually loves and thrives off the attention of being in the stable and human interaction.
“She’s a unique horse and we enjoy having her back in, that’s for sure.
“We’ll kick-off in a benchmark race first-up in mid to late September, possibly at Mornington as around that time there is very little benchmark racing in town, so hopefully she can kick-off in a winning way.
“We need to raise those points and providing she has come back well from there we will plot a path to something like the Empire Rose.
“She obviously goes well at Flemington.
“There is the lure of big prize money up in Sydney, but for me it’s more important to win a Group 1 at headquarters down here in Victoria and for the owners too.”
Littlefield is yet to achieve a Group 1 success, having had only four starters at the elite level.
She narrowly missed out in the 2025 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield when She’s Bulletproof finished second to Jimmysstar.
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