Estonian Princess will return to Melbourne for the 2014 Summoned Stakes at Sandown on Saturday and trainer Scott Aspery said that he can’t fault the talented mare ahead of the Group 3 event.
Estonian Princess has the chance to return to winning form in the 2014 Summoned Stakes at Sandown this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
Estonian Princess has not recorded a race win during her 2014 Spring Racing Carnival campaign, but she has performed well in all bar one four of her race starts and looks to have found a winnable race in the Summoned Stakes.
The Snitzel mare returned to racing with a credible fifth in the Group 3 Sheraco Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 13 before she produced an uncharacteristically poor performance in the Group 3 Golden Pendant (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on September 27.
Estonian Princess returned to her best form when she was narrowly beaten by Neena Rock in the Group 3 Angst Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on October 11 before she finished a close fifth in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington on November 1.
Aspery opted to take Estonian Princess back to Sydney after the Myer Classic, but he told Sky Racing HQ that she has trained on strongly and is in excellent condition heading into the Summoned Stakes this weekend.
“It is two weeks between runs and she is a very good traveler,” Aspery said.
“It made sense to bring her home back to where she was familiar with the surroundings and we will head back to Melbourne tonight and be ready to run on Saturday.
“She was beaten by 1.7 and she didn’t have a lot of luck in the straight either.
“She was cramped for room and she copped a bit of interference at about 250 metres of the straight and when she got clear running she really jumped of the ground well and she hit the line well.
“I can’t fault her.”
Brenton Avdulla steered Estonian Princess to victory in the Carr Stakes in the autumn and rode the four-year-old in her past two starts, but opted to remain in Sydney to fulfill his riding obligations this weekend.
Michael Rodd has been booked to ride Estonian Princess and Aspery said that he is happy to have the leading hoop back on his star galloper for the first time since she finished second behind Sweet Idea in the Magic Millions Guineas (1400m) in January.
“Unfortunately Brenton already has commitments in Sydney on Saturday, but we were lucky enough to secure Michael,” Aspery said.
“Michael rode her when she ran second at the Gold Coast in the Guineas and it is good to have him back on board.”
Estonian Princess will take on a capacity field of fifteen rivals in the Summoned Stakes and will jump from barrier 14.
