Impressive mare Miss Cover Girl finally snares good barrier for Silk Stocking on Gold Coast

KELLY Schweida's impressive mare Miss Cover Girl will not know herself at the Gold Coast on Saturday after finally snaring a decent barrier.

Miss Cover Girl picked a good barrier for the Silk Stocking. Picture: Glenn Barnes

KELLY Schweida's impressive mare Miss Cover Girl will not know herself at the Gold Coast on Saturday.

She has finally snared a good barrier after drawing closer to the carpark than the running rail in most of her recent Queensland starts.

When she resumes in the Silk Stocking (1200m) she will be wearing blinkers and a tongue tie for the first time.

With a couple of gear changes and a cosy barrier draw, Schweida hopes she can improve on her nice record of three wins from six first-up starts.

“I was initially hesitant about putting the blinkers on her but she seems to go well in them in work,’’ Schweida said.

“An ace up her sleeve is the barrier (two) because she hasn’t had much luck with barrier draws for quite a while.

“'I’d be hoping she would be about fourth or fifth in the run and be within striking distance of the leaders.

“The fact that she hasn’t won (since last April) is a bit of a concern, but everything does seem to be going well with her. I thought she trialled nicely enough for this in what was a really hot trial.’’

Miss Cover Girl is having her first run since finishing fifth behind Amicus in the Group 2 Breeders Classic at Randwick.

Miss Cover Girl picked a good barrier for the Silk Stocking. Picture: Glenn Barnes

She was caught without cover that day, beaten less than two lengths, and Schweida said it was a forgivable run as she pulled a plate during the race and pulled up sore.

Miss Cover Girl is on the second line of betting for tomorrow's Silk Stocking, with UBET rating her a $6.50 chance. Melbourne mare Jessy Belle is the $5.50 favourite but Schweida thinks Tony Gollan's local mare Tina Melina ($7) is the one to beat.

“Tina Melina has really strong form for this but there are plenty of chances,’’ Schweida said.

“It won't be an easy race to win but I am confident Miss Cover Girl will run well.’’

Schweida also has a nice chance with two-year-old Oink, who brought home the bacon at Doomben last month before running third on the Sunshine Coast in his next start.

Schweida feels Oink was strong on the line in his most recent start but says it is hard to line up the form going into the Ken Russell Memorial Classic (1200m).

“There is every chance the John O'Shea runner ($1.85 favourite Impending) may just be too good,’’ Schweida says.

“Oink has good ability but is still very immature and very green.’’

Originally published as Impressive mare Miss Cover Girl finally snares good barrier for Silk Stocking on Gold Coast