Sheza hot favourite to win G1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick
Co-trainer Coleman backs filly, so does rider of last filly to win Sydney handicap classic
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Sheza Alibi (Luke Nolen) winning the Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1,600m) at her last start on March 7. The Melbourne filly will start as the hot favourite in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile over the same course and distance on April 4.
PHOTO: RACING AND SPORTS
SYDNEY – Sheza Alibi was not confirmed for the Doncaster Mile until a few days after her Randwick Guineas win, but co-trainer Katherine Coleman has not seen anything since to make her think she is not up to the task.
The three-year-old filly is set to start a short-priced favourite in the A$4 million (S$3.5 million) Group 1 race over 1,600m at Randwick on April 3.
Sheza Alibi still has this week’s piece of serious work to complete, which will be done at Pakenham on the morning of March 31, but Coleman said all had gone smoothly since her dominant Randwick Guineas win on March 7.
“We’ve definitely been very happy with her since she came home from Sydney after winning up there,” said Coleman, who trains in partnership with Peter Moody.
“She just hasn’t missed a beat and she seems like she’s really bounced through that.
“Her trial was super, she wasn’t asked for much of an effort and it didn’t take much out of her.
“She seems very bright and well within herself, so she will have a nice gallop on Tuesday morning in preparation for the Doncaster and then head up to Sydney later in the week, all being well.”
Moody and Coleman did not commit to a Doncaster Mile start until the days following the Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1,600m), when Sheza Alibi was already back home at their Pakenham base.
They have gone about business as usual with the daughter of Saxon Warrior, who was kept up to the mark with an impressive 1,000m jumpout win at Pakenham on March 24.
Jamie Melham was aboard in the jumpout and will ride Sheza Alibi at 49kg this weekend, when she will be looking to extend her winning streak to five.
Her Randwick Guineas win was preceded by victory in the Group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes (1,400m), having won the Group 3 The Vanity (1,400m) and Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1,600m) late last spring.
The six-time winner is poised to start the shortest-priced favourite in a Doncaster Mile since Winx, who won at 4-5 a decade ago, with the filly heading all-in betting at even money on March 30.
Should Sheza Alibi win, she would become the first three-year-old filly this century to win the Doncaster Mile. The last to pull it off was champion mare Sunline in 1999 when ridden by Larry Cassidy, the Singapore Derby-winning jockey aboard Smart Bet in 2002 and Lead To Victory in 2003.
“A good barrier is always important and you would take between six and 10 any day of the week,” said the now-retired Kiwi jockey.
“But I don’t think it matters that much for Sheza Alibi because she has only 49kg and that is the key to Saturday’s race.
“It will feel like she hasn’t got a jockey aboard with that weight. Also, her rider, Jamie Melham, can afford to make use of her at some point in the race.
“You would think only bad luck will beat her but those good horses don’t usually have bad luck and she can make her own luck with that light weight.
“Sheza Alibi was racing against quality opposition in the Guineas but she made them look second rate. She won in a canter.
“Then Autumn Boy came out and won the Rosehill Guineas impressively which has really franked the filly’s form.
“I just keep coming back to Sheza Alibi’s 49kg – when I won the Doncaster on Sunline she had 52kg and I was very confident that year.’’ RACING AND SPORTS
