Trainer Ciaron Maher is confident that Set Square can bounce back in the 2015 Mackinnon Stakes after she failed to fire in the Group 1 event at Flemington on Saturday.
Set Square has the chance to return to winning form in the 2015 Mackinnon Stakes. Photo by: Sarah Ebbett
Set Square started her 2015 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a close second behind Abidewithme in the Cape Grim Beef Plate at Caulfield on August 29 and she was slightly flat in the Spring Is The Season Handicap (1700m) at Flemington on September 12 before she finished an excellent third behind Preferment and Royal Descent in the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on October 4.
The Reset mare was well-backed in the lead-up to the Caulfield Cup and she was taken straight to the lead by jockey Kerrin McEvoy in the early stages of the race, but she was one of the first horses beaten and could finish no better than 16th.
“She just overdid it, she has never raced in that sort of pattern before hence she couldn’t finish off,” Maher told Racing Ahead this morning.
“She was good in the Turnbull and she seems to have come through ok.
“She knew that she had a run for a couple of days after the Caulfield Cup, but her work has been good since and she has freshened up.
“Back to that track and distance hopefully she can bounce back to form.”
Set Square was originally set to press on to the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) during the 2015 Spring Racing Carnival, but she was not included in the second acceptances for the ‘the race that stops a nation’ that were released on Monday.
Maher said that it was too much to ask of Set Square to press on to Melbourne Cup at this stage of her racing career, but he indicated that she could be given another opportunity to run in the race next year.
“She might be just a bit early on the back of her Caulfield Cup run to go to the two mile, so maybe next year,” Maher said.
“We will just go back to the Mackinnon.”
The 2015 Mackinnon Stakes field will be released shortly and he is set to take on the likes of Fawkner, Happy Trails, Pornichet, Contributer, Weary, Gailo Chop, Index Linked, Magic Hurricane and Magic Artist.
You can score the best Mackinnon Stakes odds with Ladbrokes, who are offering Best Tote or Starting Price +20% for every single horse in the field.
