Trainer Peter Moody is confident that Dissident will have no problem handling a wet track in the 2014 Rosehill Guineas in Sydney this weekend.
Dissident has the chance to join Metal Bender and It's A Dundeel as the only horses to have won both the Royal Randwick Guineas and the Rosehill Guineas. Photo by: Steve Hart
Dissident has had three starts on rain affected surfaces during his racing career to date and has clearly handled the soft going; winning the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) and finishing second in both the Listed Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m) and Listed The Rosebud (1200m) on slow tracks.
Moody was thrilled that Dissident was able to break through for his maiden win at Group 1 level in the Royal Randwick Guineas (1600m) last start and believes that the Sebring colt can produce another strong performance, no matter what condition the track is in, in the Rosehill Guineas this weekend.
“He never runs a bad race whether it is wet or dry,” Moody told TVN.
“Every time I put a saddle on him I know he is a chance of winning.
“He never gets a wrap for what he does, but I wouldn’t swap him.”
Dissident is based at Moody’s stable at Royal Randwick and has been looked after by Sydney stable foreman Claire Cunningham since he started his 2013 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a second place finish behind Eurozone in The Rosebud.
Cunningham told TVN that Dissident had come out of the Royal Randwick Guineas in excellent condition and she said she had been impressed with the three-year-olds trackwork in the lead-up to the Rosehill Guineas on Saturday.
“The horse has trained on really well since the Randwick Guineas and we have a really confident jockey,” Cunningham said.
“Going from this morning’s gallop we are happy with him; he worked with the filly Sensibility on the outside of the course proper.
“Dissident has never been an overly impressive trackwork galloper and his consistent rider said that he is no different to the usual and was happy with how he was.
“It is a thrill and a privilege and I hope that I come across more horses like Dissident in the time that I am working in racing.”
Dissident will be Moody’s sixth runner in the Rosehill Guineas, but he is still chasing his first win in the Group 1 event after missing the placings with Highly Recommended (12th behind Laser Hawk in 2012), Anacheeva (seventh behind Jimmy Choux in 2011), Pillar Of Hercules (12th behind Dealer Principal in 2008), Testafiable (seventh behind De Beers in 2006) and Davidoff (sixth behind Helenus in 2003).
Puccini is currently a narrow favourite in 2014 Rosehill Guineas betting markets, but Dissident has been the best backed runner in the past 24 hours and is now available at a quote of $5.50.
