Rising star Tiamo Grace will prepare for a Melbourne Spring Carnival campaign when she lines up against the fillies in a Super Vobis Handicap over 1400m at Flemington on Saturday.
Tiamo Grace, above, is set to resume at Flemington against the fillies. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Victoria’s leading trainer Darren Weir will decide on Wednesday morning if Tiamo Grace will return to the race track this weekend after being off the scene since winning the Group 2 $300,000 Mumm Wakeful Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on the first day of the 2016 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“She had a good gallop this morning so we’ll just wait to see how she pulls up before making up our mind, but we are really pleased with the way she’s been coming along,” Weir told racing.com.
Tiamo Grace was hailed as one of the favourites for the Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington five days after her impressive Wakeful Stakes victory but Weir decided against running her in the fillies classic when he wasn’t completely happy with the way she recovered from the run.
“She lightened off a lot after she won the Wakeful and we weren’t able to run her in the Oaks,” Weir said.
“Probably the way the Oaks was run it was a good thing. We’re happy that she went to the paddock.”
Weir then mapped out an Australasian Oaks campaign in Adelaide in the Autumn for Tiamo Grace but once again decided against it and sent the filly for another break before preparing her for a Melbourne Spring Carnival campaign.
“Her action just wasn’t quite right so we pulled the pin and decided to concentrate on the spring,” Weir said.
“She got to the 2000 metres of the Wakeful and we’ve been looking forward to getting her to a mile-and-a-half (2400m) and see what she can do.”
Weir has also nominated Moonlites Choice in the same race with Tiamo Grace at Flemington on Saturday and the Bushranger filly is coming off a last start win in a 1200m three year old fillies Handicap at Caulfield last Saturday.
Tiamo Grace hasn’t missed a place from five race starts and her record shows two wins, two seconds and a third for prizemoney earnings of $245,600.
