Group 1 winning filly Yankee Rose will kick off the new racing season as a four year old mare in the Group 1 $1m Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 2.
Yankee Rose, above, will resume in the Spring in the Memsie Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.
Yankee Rose was a Group 1 winner in both her two year old and three year old seasons with victories in the $1m Inglis Sires’ (1400m) at Randwick during the 2016 Sydney Autumn Carnival and then in the $500,000 Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick in the Spring.
The All American filly then went on to run third behind Winx and Hartnell in the Group 1 $3m Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley but then could only beat one runner home when fourteenth in the Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington.
Trainer David Vandyke then discovered that Yankee Rose had sustained a chipped bone in her near side knee which required surgery and a good spell before being ready to head back to the race track.
Vandyke has now reported that Yankee Rose has completely recovered from her setback and is being prepared for a first up tilt at the weight for age Memsie Stakes.
“The operation was about a week and a half after that run (Crown Oaks), we got her in quite quickly,” Vandyke told RSN’s Racing Pulse.
“The operation was successful and she had a month’s box rest, a month in a small yard and a month in a paddock and we have had her back at the stable since then.”
“Bringing her up nice and slowly, plenty of swimming and she looks good.”
“I would like to start in the Memsie and go to the Makybe Diva two weeks later over a mile and then the Turnbull and then we will assess whether we go to the Cox Plate or the Caulfield Cup from there.”
Vandyke is confident that he will have Yankee Rose ready to be competitive first up for the 1400m of the Memsie Stakes and would be happy to see her produce her trademark late finishing burst.
“With the proper foundation the 1400m won’t be too big an ask,” Vandyke said.
“The main thing I will be looking for is watching her find the line late and pull up in good shape to go forward into the longer races.”
Vandyke was not worried that Yankee Rose missed the rich Autumn Carnivals and the Brisbane Winter Carnival and said that the extended break has seen the filly grow stronger and mature.
“It is nice in some ways that we missed the Winter Carnival because it just allowed us to bring her up at just a nice slow pace,” Vandyke said.
“She had a lot of hard racing as a two year old and early three year old so it was a nice piece of time to let her chill out and enjoy a quieter time.”
“She has grown a little bit but is still below average in size but we know that she is above average in heart, that is the main thing.”
Yankee Rose is listed as a $34 chance in early betting for the 2017 Cox Plate at Ladbrokes.com.au who have Winx as the $1.50 favourite to win her third ‘Weight For Age Championship of Australasia’ in a row.
