Trainer Clayton Douglas has already achieved the first aim he set for Blue Hotel and now turns his attention to gauging her place in the three-year-old filly ranks. The daughter of Volcada resumes in the Group 3 Quezette Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield this Saturday, having made an impressive debut with victory in Adelaide.
Her debut win came in the Listed Dequetteville Stakes (1000m) at Morphettville Parks, a race her dam had also claimed. “Her mother won the same race over in Adelaide, so that was a little plan we set before she had raced, and luckily it came off,” Douglas explained. “She came to hand quickly last prep. She had a jump-out at Balnarring, another one at Woolamai and then she was off to the races. I think she’s going to mature again after her spring campaign, but it’s good to have a filly of this quality anyway.”
The team considered a return to Adelaide for the autumn but instead gave her a break. “We were contemplating running her on Goodwood Day in the two-year-old race (Group 3 David Coles Stakes), but it would have been five or six weeks between runs. She had a jump-out in between and after that we elected to give her a month off and get her ready for the early spring. She showed us that she is up to these sort of fillies, so we’ll see how she measures up.”
Douglas is fully aware of the competition in Saturday’s race. “Scenic Point looks like she’s a pretty handy filly and Ciaron Maher’s filly (Signature Scent) with Willo on, it’s quite a nice horse and both of those have drawn quite well. There’s no hiding this time of year. You have to take them on, but she did run second to Esha in a trial and she’s run second to Vinrock, so her trial form reads pretty well for Saturday. She seems to have come up quite well this preparation. She’s a filly that has had only the one start and is still learning a little bit, but I’m happy with how she is going into Saturday.”
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