Trainer takes cautious approach with Ghisoni

JOHN O’Shea admits the thinning of chances in the Doomben 10,000 makes it a tempting option, but he is still likely to keep Ghisoni against her own sex this weekend.

Big picture view: It’s tempting but John O’Shea is unlikely to run Ghisoni in the Doomben 10,000. Picture: Jenny Evans

JOHN O’Shea admits the thinning of chances in Saturday’s Doomben 10,000 makes the weight-for-age contest a tempting option, but he is still likely to keep Ghisoni against her own sex this weekend.

Ghisoni was $6 second favourite for the 10,000 with only 14 runners left, but the booking of her regular rider James McDonald for Delectation on Sunday indicated it was more likely she would not run.

Ghisoni will gallop at Godolphin’s Osborne Park property in NSW on Monday morning and O’Shea will decide after that which race she runs in.

He said if the race was in NSW, he would accept for both and assess barriers, but that was not an option in Queensland.

“My inclination is to not run her (in the 10,000), albeit I know she will be extremely competitive,” O’Shea said.

“It is tempting. The form out of the BTC Cup, where we saw Artlee get beaten on Saturday, does encourage you.”

The reason O’Shea is likely to take the easier option is that he is taking a bigger picture view of where the filly might end up in 12 months and doesn’t want to risk that.

“She has been a filly we have been extremely patient with,” O’Shea said.

“She’s just starting to hit her straps and if we look after her we’re going to have a really nice older mare next season in races up to about 1400m.

“Her last two starts just haven’t gone how we wanted them to.

“Had we won the Arrowfield (in which she was unlucky) we would have had good cause to run in the 10,000.

“At the moment it’s all about seasoning her for later on. For a Group 1 weight-for-age race you want to be well and truly seasoned.

“I think she will be vulnerable first-up off a very soft trial, so that’s why she will have a nice burn around (today).”

In terms of a potential Stradbroke start, O’Shea said “we will go there on Saturday and see what that brings.”

With Ghisoni out, Azkadellia firmed to $3 favouritism for the 10,000, even though trainer Ciaron Maher has some ­reservations about how the race might affect her Stradbroke handicap.

Maher will speak to the Racing Queensland handicapping department this week to get a line on where Azkadellia sits in the Stradbroke weights and what penalty she might be open to if she wins on Saturday.

“The aim was always to have her as right as we could for the Straddy and that means having one lead-up run into it,” Maher said.

“At this stage she’s definitely running in the 10,000.”

Originally published as Trainer takes cautious approach with Ghisoni