Two late scratchings in quick succession might raise eyebrows, but trainer Clinton McDonald insists there is nothing amiss with emerging filly Miss Ole.
The Ole Kirk youngster was most recently withdrawn from a $65,000 contest at Flemington on New Year’s Eve, having also been scratched from the Caulfield Heath meeting on December 20 after drawing poorly.
McDonald has now locked in the $150,000 Brandt Colac 3YO Handicap at Saturday’s Coastal Classic meeting at Geelong as the filly’s first-up assignment, with bigger goals already mapped out.
“I think she’s going well enough to win first-up, we just needed to have the right ducks in a line to push the button,” McDonald said.
The 1100-metre race will be Miss Ole’s first appearance since completing a Flemington double on June 7, and she will meet rivals such as Job Done, Faraway Dream and Royal Rendezvous.
Her only other career run came when finishing fifth on debut in the VOBIS Gold Strike at Warrnambool during the May Carnival.
Miss Ole had been building towards a spring campaign before an infection halted those plans, with McDonald opting to err on the side of caution.
“We just said ‘no, let’s stop’, because she was on heavy antibiotics and that’s when you stuff them, when you try and force them back,” he said.
“The owners were patient, gave her a spell and came back, and she’s right to go now.”
The filly has had two quiet trials ahead of her return and is expected to progress to the Group 3 Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on January 24.
“She’s growing into a good type of filly, she’s going to be a nice three-year-old in the autumn,” McDonald said.
“We’re hoping that she can get to Adelaide for a Sangster, or somewhere like that if she keeps going the way she’s going.
“We thought if we can get these two runs under her belt (we’d) then back off her and come into Adelaide with a little freshen up.”
The Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) will be staged at Morphettville in late April.
Ben Melham will ride Miss Ole, who jumps from barrier five in a field of 11.
Betting markets for the Geelong meeting are available via the Australian betting sites list.
