Things are about to get serious for Sheza Alibi.
The exciting filly is approaching the end of her time in Queensland and is set to return to the Pakenham stable managed by Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman.
The daughter of Saxon Warrior headed north shortly after her impressive win in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile, and Moody mentioned she has enjoyed her time off ahead of a potentially defining four-year-old season.
“She actually travels home from Queensland next week,” Moody said from Flemington on Saturday.
“(It’s been) slowly, slowly. She’s done about seven weeks’ work up there and enjoyed it.
“There wasn’t a lot of developing to do, she just had to maintain her health and wellbeing and she’s done that.”
Sheza Alibi’s performances in the Sydney Autumn Carnival cemented her status as a leading contender for Australia’s best horse, with her dominant 4-1/4-length Doncaster Mile victory following a maiden Group 1 success in the Randwick Guineas (1600m).
After a few weeks’ rest, she completed a month of pre-training before a three-week stint at Eagle Farm.
“Trot and canter for a month, just to put a base in them and the last three weeks she’s been in at Eagle Farm at our stable there,” Moody explained regarding Sheza Alibi’s training progress.
“She’s done three weeks at three-quarter pace and she’s ready to have a gallop now.”
Moody stated that the spring plans for the Horse of the Year contender are still being finalised, but initial strategies are being put in place with a view to a first-up run in the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on August 29.
“She probably has a jumpout at the end of the month, trials the first or second week of August somewhere there and the Memsie’s at the end of August,” he said.
“That was the first possible (target) – I’m not saying that the one – but that’s the first option.”
The Memsie Stakes is run seven days after the Group 1 Winx Stakes in Sydney, a race that many racing fans would want to see her resume in, as it would potentially lead to a clash with fellow Horse of the Year contender Autumn Glow.
Sheza Alibi’s primary objective for the spring is the $10 million Golden Eagle (1600m), scheduled for October 31, a race over the same course and distance as her two Group 1 wins, for which she is already considered the odds-on favourite.
Consider placing a wager on the Memsie Stakes with Australian betting sites.
