Unbeaten filly Villa Verde will bypass the Melbourne Autumn Carnival with trainer Shaun Dwyer concentrating solely on a Golden Slipper campaign.
Villa Verde is the winner of her only two starts and Dwyer immediately sent the Not A Single Doubt filly to the spelling paddock after her win in the Listed $120,000 7News Plate (1000m) at Flemington on November 6 with the Group 1 $3.5m Tooheys New Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on April 6 her main target in the Autumn.
Dwyer will begin his Slipper countdown next week when Villa Verde returns to his Bendigo stables after a seven week break and will plan to give the filly only one run in the Group 2 $300,000 Reisling Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 23 leading into the Slipper.
“We’re pretty keen just to take up there and give her a run in the Reisling and then go to the Slipper,” Dwyer said.
The Bendigo trainer will forego a chance to win the Group 1 $1m Patinack Farm Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 23 aiming his filly towards one main goal in the Autumn.
Villa Verde showed Dwyer that she was above average with a first up win in the Listed $120,000 Inglis Debutants Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on October 17 and then followed that up with an easy win as favourite down the Flemington straight on Melbourne Cup day.
“She is pretty bombproof, she knows about racing. She is just a natural racehorse, she has been down the straight,” Dwyer said.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time working her the other way, reverse jump outs.”
It is a very hard task to win the Blue Diamond at Caulfield in late February and then try to peak your two year old again for the Golden Slipper in April and with a good spell under her belt, Dwyer will head the filly towards Sydney with plenty of experience the reverse way of going with the help of the Bendigo Race Club.
“I’ve always been a believer that babies need good spells. She’ll have had seven weeks by the time she comes into the stable next week,” Dwyer said.
“I’ve been out to see her and she has really bloomed. After about three weeks she started to really grow and condition herself.”
Dwyer has made arrangements with the Bendigo track staff who will allow Villa Verde to work the Sydney way of going a couple of times a week before heading north prior to the Reisling Stakes.
“It’s a long time since I’ve had a horse this good,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer put the finishing touches on his great sprinting mare Regimental Gal who win the 2003 $800,000 Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast before taking out the 2004 Group 1 Autumn double of the $400,000 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington and the $350,000 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley six weeks later.
