Promising filly Ersa out to send the Thousand Guineas crown back to Lindsay Park at Caulfield

Lindsay Park’s decision to bypass the Oaks could be set to pay a big dividend with their top seed in Saturday’s new-look Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.

Promising filly Ersa will step up to Group 1 company in Saturday's $1.5m Thousand Guineas at Caulfield. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

An early decision could send the Thousand Guineas trophy back to Lindsay Park for the first time in eight years.

David Hayes and Tom Dabernig won the Thousand Guineas with Stay With Me in 2015 but a lot has changed since.

Hayes and Dabernig moved in different directions, clearing the way for Ben, Will and JD Hayes to run the famous operation with great success in the past few years.

The Thousand Guineas will also present a different challenge for punters in 2023 with the $1.5 million event run a month later as part of a Melbourne Racing Club initiative to extend the spring carnival.

Will Hayes said the training trio assessed its spring three-year-old band late last season, marking Ersa as one of the stable’s top seeds for the Thousand Guineas as they decided against an Oaks preparation for the filly.

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Ersa breaks her maiden in fine style over the mile! Always a filly who showed promise, the team were delighted to see Ersa relish the increase in trip today at Ballarat. Congratulations to owners Gerry Ryan and Jonathan Hardwick, onwards and upwards from here! pic.twitter.com/ptYQXOza3s

— Lindsay Park Racing (@lindsayparkrace) October 2, 2023

“We looked at our horses at the start of the spring and thought we wanted to keep her at a mile through the spring and stretch her out in the autumn,” he said.

“We could have made the decision and got her to an Oaks but we thought at the time this would be the best thing for her.

“She’s one that we picked out as a late two-year-old that we earmarked as a Thousand Guineas filly.”

Ersa put up her hand as a potential Thousand Guineas type with a nine-length demolition of her rivals in a Ballarat maiden last month before going down narrowly over the Caulfield 1600m course two runs back.

Ersa took on the colts and geldings at her last outing in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images.

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The Lonhro filly also stood up well to her first crack at Group racing when beaten less than two lengths in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day.

TAB has Ersa as a $34 chance in its latest Thousand Guineas betting but Hayes said the filly had coped well with every challenge in the spring.

“When you train horses and when you push them, they quickly let you know if they’re going to handle it or not,” Hayes said.

“She ran a great race in the Carbine (Club Stakes) and she looks set to run a great race in the Thousand Guineas.”

Originally published as Promising filly Ersa out to send the Thousand Guineas crown back to Lindsay Park at Caulfield