Flying Mascot to chase All-Star Mile votes in Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield

Emerging mare Flying Mascot will have a late chance to attract the votes she needs to secure an All-Star Mile start when she resumes at Caulfield on Saturday.

Flying Mascot was a dominant winner of the Group 3 Tesio Stakes at The Valley last October. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Warrnambool trainer Tom Dabernig would love All-Star Mile voters to hold fire until after Saturday’s Caulfield meeting.

All-Star Mile voting closes on Sunday but Dabernig’s charge Flying Mascot is currently in 11th spot, one place below the threshold for an automatic start in next month’s $5m race at Flemington.

On Tuesday afternoon, Flying Mascot was 150 votes behind the 10th horse in voting, the Peter Moody-trained Lightsaber.

Flying Mascot will have one chance to impress prospective voters in the Group 3 Geffrey Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield.

The 1200m distance is against Flying Mascot but Dabernig was confident the four-year-old would acquit herself well at her first run since the spring.

“Whether it is a good enough run to capture a few more last-minute votes or not, we’ll wait and see,” Dabernig said.

“We’re just hoping she runs a good race and gets a few more people interested in her.

“Her owners Flying Start Syndications have a reasonable network to try to capture votes and we have tried to do as much promotion as we can within reason.

“Because she’s probably a little bit under the radar, more fancied horses have attracted more attention.”

Tom Dabernig is aiming to get Flying Mascot into the field for next month’s rich All-Star Mile at Flemington. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

Flying Mascot improved sharply during the spring, winning the Group 3 Tesio Stakes at The Valley on Cox Plate Day before a solid fifth in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington a week later.

Dabernig said the daughter of Tavistock had matured further during her summer break.

“She only had the four runs in the spring, but she climbed the ladder pretty quickly,” Dabernig said.

“She’s going well. I definitely think she’s physically stronger than what she was in the spring.

“I’m expecting she’ll be better again in the autumn.”

Dabernig did not rule out a bid to secure an All-Star Mile wildcard via the Futurity or Blamey Stakes should Flying Mascot not make the top 10 in voting.

But he said races like the Group 3 Mannerism Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield and Group 2 Sunline Stakes (1600m) at The Valley were ideal back-up races for Flying Mascot.

Originally published as Flying Mascot to chase All-Star Mile votes in Geoffrey Bellmaine Stakes at Caulfield