Michael Freedman open to testing top filly Manaal in Group 1 Golden Rose

Group 1 winner Manaal will take a significant step towards the spring carnival when she trials on Friday morning.

Manaal will trial at Warwick Farm on Tuesday. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Manaal could get the chance to end a three-year-old fillies hoodoo this spring with trainer Michael Freedman open to a crack at the Group 1 Golden Rose.

Manaal will make her first public appearance at Friday’s Warwick Farm barrier trials as Freedman ramps up her preparation for the upcoming carnival.

Only one filly has won the Golden Rose, with Forensics winning an autumn edition of the race in 2008 while the Group 1 Flight Stakes is also on Freedman’s radar.

“We will keep our options open with her,” Freedman said.

“The Princess Series is the obvious option but I wouldn’t rule out, depending how she returns, the possibility of a Golden Rose over 1400m at Rosehill.

“In Secret, in her three-year-old year, went Silver Shadow, Run To The Rose and Golden Rose and that’s a possibility as well.”

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Manaal already boasts Group 1, 2 and 3 victories to her name after a stellar two-year-old season that was headlined by her autumn victory in the Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

She is still a month away from making her return to the races but will take an important step towards her return when she trials at Warwick Farm on Friday.

Manaal will trial alongside talented stablemates Ducasse, Mumbai Muse and Panic in a 900m heat.

Manaal has already won a Group 1, 2, and 3 level. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

“She seems to be working along as you’d like to see at this early stage,” Freedman said.

“She is nice and bright and will only have a very soft trial on Friday.

“We will give her another one a couple of weeks later with the view at this stage of running first up in the Silver Shadow.”

Stretching Manaal out over a mile remains a distinct possibility in the spring with Freedman adamant he’s put a line through the filly’s only other run over the trip.

Manaal went for a spell after finishing more than six lengths off Godolphin weapon Broadsiding in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes (1600m).

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“She ran on a bog track over the mile that she didn’t handle so the jury is still out over whether she gets a mile but I can’t see any reason why she wouldn’t,” Freedman said.

“I wouldn’t read into the Champagne because it was a bog and they called the races off two races later.”

Manaal is currently the clear TAB favourite at $3.50 for the Group 1 Flight Stakes, the final leg of the Princess Series at Royal Randwick on October 5.

The Golden Rose, where Manaal is rated a $15 chance, is staged a week earlier at Rosehill Gardens.

Originally published as Michael Freedman open to testing top filly Manaal in Group 1 Golden Rose