Undefeated mare White Sage will face the toughest test of her career in the Group 2 Breeders Classic (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens this Saturday, but impressed trainer John O’Shea with her performance in trackwork this morning.
White Sage will make her debut at Group level in the Breeders Classic at Rosehill Gardens this weekend. Photo by: Steve Hart
White Sage worked strongly around the outside of the track proper at Royal Randwick and O’Shea told TVN this morning that the Reset mare is taking plenty of personal confidence into the Group 2 event this weekend.
“She is in the zone; she pretty much things that she is unbeatable,” O’Shea said.
“She just struts around here as if the place is hers and she was very comfortable around the outside of the course proper here this morning.
“There will be plenty of improvement on whatever she does on Saturday, but there is good residual fitness coming out of the summer.
“I will just keep her happy and I hope that she draws well and gets a good run into the race.
“She just throws herself at the line and wants to be a racehorse.”
White Sage required five barrier trials before she made her racing debut in May of last year, but since getting to the track has been flawless in five race starts.
The classy mare resumed with a dominant seven lengths win at Kembla Grande and made her metropolitan debut with a five lengths victory in the TAB IPhone App Handicap (1300m) at Royal Randwick.
After a stint in the spelling paddock she return to the races with back-to-back wins in the West Tradies Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on November 6 and the Cellarbrations Scone Handicap (1350m) before recording her maiden win at black type level against a strong field in the Listed Festival Stakes (1500m).
O’Shea is confident that White Sage can perform at the highest level of racing this preparation and he has set the four-year-old for both the Group 1 Coolmore Classic (1500m) and Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) during the 2014 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival.
White Sage is set to take on some of the best mares in Australia in the Breeders Classic this weekend; with Triple Group 1 winner Streama, Joseph Pride-trained Steps In Time, Myer Classic winner Red Tracer and the talented Driefontein all included in the nominations for the Group 2 event.
