Stolen Dance
Photo: Trish Dunell
David Greene sees no reason why Stolen Dance can't turn the tables on her Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) conqueror Kawi in Saturday's Gr.1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile at Trentham.
In fact, the Te Rapa trainer is expecting it.
A winner of eight of her 13 starts, Alamosa four-year-old mare Stolen Dance had won the Gr.3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie and the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa before her head defeat at the hands of Thorndon Mile rival Kawi in the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
"She gets four kilos off Kawi this week, so she's in a kilogram-and-a-half better and her record at a mile is outstanding. She's run faster times at 1600m than anything else in the field," Greene said.
"She's never lost a race left-handed in six starts. She's got a lot of things going for her. To my way of thinking and weighing up all those things, it's her race to lose. We should be beating Kawi this weekend."
TAB bookmakers have installed Kawi as a $2.70 favourite for the Thorndon Mile, with Stolen Dance a $3.80 second favourite.
Stolen Dance will travel to Trentham on Friday and have the services of leading rider Danielle Johnson once again.
"There will be no excuses. Everything has gone as well as we could have hoped. She has continued to have a trouble-free preparation," Greene said.
"I thought her run in the Zabeel Classic was great. Obviously she's been beaten by a pretty good one. If you look through the run, you can pick out points where things might have gone differently which could have changed the result but you don't run races hypothetically - you run them on the racetrack. But we'll be doing our best to turn things around on Kawi this weekend." - NZ Racing Desk
In fact, the Te Rapa trainer is expecting it.
A winner of eight of her 13 starts, Alamosa four-year-old mare Stolen Dance had won the Gr.3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie and the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa before her head defeat at the hands of Thorndon Mile rival Kawi in the Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
"She gets four kilos off Kawi this week, so she's in a kilogram-and-a-half better and her record at a mile is outstanding. She's run faster times at 1600m than anything else in the field," Greene said.
"She's never lost a race left-handed in six starts. She's got a lot of things going for her. To my way of thinking and weighing up all those things, it's her race to lose. We should be beating Kawi this weekend."
TAB bookmakers have installed Kawi as a $2.70 favourite for the Thorndon Mile, with Stolen Dance a $3.80 second favourite.
Stolen Dance will travel to Trentham on Friday and have the services of leading rider Danielle Johnson once again.
"There will be no excuses. Everything has gone as well as we could have hoped. She has continued to have a trouble-free preparation," Greene said.
"I thought her run in the Zabeel Classic was great. Obviously she's been beaten by a pretty good one. If you look through the run, you can pick out points where things might have gone differently which could have changed the result but you don't run races hypothetically - you run them on the racetrack. But we'll be doing our best to turn things around on Kawi this weekend." - NZ Racing Desk