Belinda Blanch, who trains Lingani with her husband Peter, is perplexed by the mare’s effectiveness on wet tracks but is happy to simply capitalize on it.
She is looking forward to the five-year-old racing on her preferred surface this Saturday at Flemington.
Lingani is scheduled to contest the $175,000 Listed Santa Ana Lane Sprint Series Final over 1200 metres. The mare is expected to be in her element, with Flemington rated a Soft 7 on Wednesday and further downgrades anticipated with wintry weather expected in Victoria through to raceday.
“When it’s raining at home, she literally stands in her yard with her ears pricked,” Blanch said.
“It’s really interesting with her, because she’s quite a big horse with a big, long stride.”
“Traditionally, you’d go, ‘I don’t know if they’ll handle it’, but she just loves it.”
Six of Lingani’s seven wins have come on rain-affected tracks, with four of those on heavy ground.
These four wins on heavy ground are her only starts on such surfaces, the most recent being a 1250m benchmark 84 victory at Morphettville on June 6.
That run was her first since finishing second to Naifah in the Group 3 Proud Miss Stakes on May 9, her best performance in Stakes grade since winning the Listed Lightning Stakes two years prior. Blanch feels the time is right to test her in Melbourne again.
Her sole prior trip east was for last year’s Group 3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield, where she finished second-last on a Soft 6 track.
“She’s at the point now with her ratings that she’s limited with races over here,” Blanch stated.
“So if it’s going to be wetter somewhere else, then that’s where we’ll go, and a race like this was always going to be the plan for her.”
Lingani drew barrier two for Saturday’s nine-horse race and will be ridden by Kayla Crowther, carrying 55kg.
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