Tattersall’s Tiara fancy Steps In Time can send Cassidy off a winner

A win by Steps In Time in the Group 1 $500,000 Sky Racing Tattersall’s Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday will send veteran jockey Jim Cassidy off a winner on a well-deserved winter holiday.

Steps In Time, yellow and brown, will line up in the Tattersall's Tiara with Jim Cassidy to ride.

Steps In Time, yellow and brown, will line up in the Tattersall's Tiara with Jim Cassidy to ride. Photo by Steve Hart.

Cassidy has chalked up one hundred and two Group 1 winners over his illustrious career and expects Steps In Time to be very hard to beat after winning an 800m Warwick Farm trial on June 13.

“She ‘trucked’ around, her trial was very good,’’ Cassidy told The Daily Telegraph.

“I must say she probably trialled every bit as good as she did prior to going into the Coolmore Classic.

“She trialled like I expected her to and I wanted her to do that going into a Group 1 race.’’

Trainer Joe Pride was also more than pleased with the trial win and sanctioned the trip to Brisbane.

“On what we saw today she’ll be heading north, that’s for sure,” Pride said after last Friday’s trial.

“She trialled really well, pulled up good and we’ll be going.”

Cassidy always takes a holiday over the winter to give his body a chance to recuperate but is thinking of extending his break this year after Saturday’s Tattersall’s Tiara meeting but will definitely be back for the Spring.

“I will go up to ride Steps In Time next week then probably have a bit of a holiday after that,’’ Cassidy said.

“I’m not sure exactly when I will return to the saddle, it might not be until mid-August but I will be back for the spring.’’

Steps In Time will be heading to the breeding barn at the end of the season and Pride got almost instant success with the Danehill Dancer mare after he took over her preparation from John O’Shea for her Autumn Carnival campaign.

First up for the Pride stable, Steps In Time was beaten a nose by Catkins but then aided by a daring front running ride by Cassidy, the six year old mare was able to hold off the fast finishing Sweet Idea to win the Group 1 $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill on March 22 at her next start.

Pride then freshened her up for the 1200m Group 1 $2.5m Darley T J Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 12, the first day of ‘The Championships’, but the mare found the top class field of sprinters too nippy for her and she was a well beaten thirteenth on the heavy track behind Lankan Rupee.

“She has achieved the goal we really wanted to get with her in winning a Group 1, winning the Coolmore,” Pride said.

The Tattersall’s Tiara has attracted twenty-five nominations and is shaping up as a very competitive finale to the Group 1 season with Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap third placegetter Srikandi, Group 1 winners Driefontein and Red Tracer as well as her stablemates Catkins and She’s Clean all in the entries.

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.