Glenlogan Park Stakes looks the race for Ghisoni

Trainer John O’Shea is expected to keep Ghisoni to fillies and mares class and send her around in the Group 3 $150,000 Glenlogan Park Stakes (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday.

Ghisoni will stick to fillies and mares class in the Glenlogan Park Stakes at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

Ghisoni will stick to fillies and mares class in the Glenlogan Park Stakes at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.

O’Shea had been toying with the idea of running Ghisoni in the Group 1 $750,000 James Boag’s Premium Doomben 10000 (1350m) against the weight for age sprinters, but will stick to her own sex at Group 3 level.

“My inclination is to not run her (in the 10,000), albeit I know she will be extremely competitive,” O’Shea told The Courier-Mail.

“It is tempting. The form out of the BTC Cup, where we saw Artlee get beaten on Saturday, does encourage you.”

“She has been a filly we have been extremely patient with,” O’Shea said.

“She’s just starting to hit her straps and if we look after her we’re going to have a really nice older mare next season in races up to about 1400m.

“Her last two starts just haven’t gone how we wanted them to.

“Had we won the Arrowfield (in which she was unlucky) we would have had good cause to run in the 10,000.

“At the moment it’s all about seasoning her for later on. For a Group 1 weight-for-age race you want to be well and truly seasoned.”

While O’Shea will bypass the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 this week, he has not ruled out a start in the Group 1 $1.5m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 11.

“We will go there on Saturday and see what that brings,” O’Shea said.

The lightly race Ghisoni kicked off her career in great style with wins at her first three race starts.

The Lonhro filly scored first up in a 1200m Warwick Farm three year old fillies Maiden in Novemebr followed by a win in a 1200m BenchMark 73 Handicap at Rosehill two and half weeks later before being sent for break.

Ghisoni then resumed in the Autumn with a win in the Group 2 $175,000 Coolmore Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 27 which saw O’Shea step her straight up to Group 1 company which resulted in a sixth to Peeping in the Group 1 $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on March 12.

O’Shea then gave the filly one more run during the Sydney Autumn Carnival which saw her finish fifth to Japonisme in the Group 2 $500,000 Arrowfield 3yo Sprint (1200m) at Randwick on April 9.

Ghisoni is still listed as an $11 chance in the market order for the Stradbroke Handicap at Ladbrokes.com.au who have the Ciaron Maher mare trained Azkadellia as the $4.40 favourite just ahead last Saturday’s Goodwood winner Black Heart Bart at $5.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.