Classy staying mare Tralee Rose (NZ) (Tavistock) is getting closer to her return to the races and trainer Symon Wilde has revealed that the Adelaide Cup on March 13 is her main target for this preparation.
The 2021 Geelong Cup heroine jumped out at Hamilton last Wednesday, where she finished at the tail of the field in a heat that included Group 1 winner Tuvalu (Kermadec) and stakes performer Triple Missile (Smart Missile).
“It wasn’t too bad,” Wilde said of Tralee Rose’s jump-out performance.
“I think that it’s hard to gauge, they were top-line sprinters in her trial, and we just wanted to give her a little bit of a day out, a bit of stimulation, and just make sure that we are on track.
“They did have a bit of rain there, funnily enough, and I think she does like to be more on top of the ground, I think that soft going is her best going, but it was getting a bit choppy with that rain.
“I was quite happy the way it went, the horses in front of her are all pretty good sprinters, she’s obviously a mile and a half plus horse.”
Tralee Rose hasn’t raced since last year’s Melbourne Cup, where she didn’t have a great deal of luck, and Wilde said all her upcoming runs this campaign would be in South Australia.
“We’re aiming at a couple of lead-up races over in Adelaide and then the Adelaide Cup,” he said.
“She seems really well, she spelled really well this time. We’re quite hopeful that they’re realistic targets for her that we’ve got penciled in.”
Wilde intends to start Tralee Rose in a 2000m race prior to the Lord Reims Stakes, which she won in 2021, before she contests Adelaide’s premier staying event.
