Yankee’s Rose’s slow start to her Spring Carnival campaign will begin to speed up when she arrives in Melbourne this week to prepare for a first up run in the Group 1 $1m Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 2.
A second start in the Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 28 is also on the cards if Yankee Rose progresses through her Spring campaign as expected but trainer David Vandyke could change course and head to the Group 1 $3m BMW Caulfield Cup (2400m) at Caulfield on October 21.
Yankee Rose ran a brave third to Winx, albeit eight and three quarter lengths behind the super mare, in last year’s Cox Plate before finishing down the track when fourteenth to Lasqueti Spirit in the Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington during the 2016 Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Vandyke has given Yankee Rose plenty of ground work at the Sunshine Coast since she has returned to work following surgery to remove bone chips for her knee and the four year old mare pleased the stable with a 1270m barrier trial win on August 1 on her home track.
“She’s been in work for 21 weeks. The owners have been very patient and they’ve let me put a lot of slow work into her to build her back up,” Vandyke told the Herald Sun.
The Group 1 $500,000 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 16 will be Yankee Rose’s second up run before heading to the Group 1 $500,000 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington and her performance will determine which way Vandyke will head for the remainder of the Spring Carnival.
Yankee Rose’s performances in those races will help Vandyke decide if the mare continues on a weight for age path and heads to the Cox Plate or tests her out under the handicap conditions of the Caulfield Cup.
“After that I’ll decide whether she will head towards the Caulfield Cup or the Cox Plate again,” Vandyke said.
The Chris Waller trained super mare Winx is the $1.50 favourite at Ladbrokes.com.au to win her third successive Cox Plate while Yankee Rose is currently rated as a $34 chance for the ‘Weight For Age Championship’.
Yankee Rose is a two times Group 1 winner for Vandyke and as a two year old won the Group 1 $1m Inglis Sires’ (1400m) at Randwick during the 2016 Sydney Autumn Carnival and then followed that up in the Spring as a three year old with a win in the Group 1 $500,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick.