Concord Connie might be less experienced than some of her rivals in the Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington, but her trainer is expressing considerable confidence.
Charlotte Littlefield, the trainer behind Concord Connie, is optimistic that the filly, who will officially celebrate her fourth birthday next month, has the talent to be a serious contender in Saturday’s Group 1 race for fillies and mares over 1600 metres.
Concord Connie established herself as a horse to watch with two decisive Flemington victories during the late autumn, one of which saw her win by six lengths, prompting Littlefield and her connections to look towards spring racing objectives.
Despite finishing outside the winner’s circle in her two starts this preparation, Littlefield is proud of Concord Connie’s efforts, and believes the 1600-metre distance will be ideal for her on Saturday.
“She’s still pretty young, she’s still only three, so we didn’t want to overtax her this campaign, but things haven’t gone our way this preparation,” Littlefield commented.
“Mornington was never her right track, and we knew that, and we got a few hate mails after that, but there weren’t any other options. She wasn’t ready to travel interstate at that stage. It was a nice progression, although she didn’t win there and at Caulfield, the pattern that day didn’t play into our hands.”
“I didn’t want to go changing her pattern. We were hopeful she would be good enough to get over the top, but the sectionals she ran that day were incredible, and I don’t think she could have done much more. She’s in a really good space leading into her first Group 1 and hopefully it’s a Group 1 we can conquer.”
Littlefield has secured the riding services of Craig Williams for Saturday, replacing Jett Stanley, a decision she found difficult given Stanley had performed well.
“Craig and I have worked together closely for the last three years and he’s probably the reason for my success,” Littlefield stated. “He launched me and helped educate She’s Bulletproof, Modown, Regal Vow, Stakes performed horses, and Big Swinger.”
“He was always in my ear asking to get on Connie and when the opportunity arose in this Group 1, it was the right decision to make in conjunction with the owners. We want to give the owners every chance of winning a Group 1 and we felt it was the right decision to make putting on Craig Williams. He rides so well and has such great experience at Group 1 level.”
Littlefield trains a stable of 32 horses and typically rides one or two of them each morning.
Concord Connie is not a regular mount for Littlefield, although she does ride the mare occasionally on quieter mornings or at the beach.
“I tend to do the quiet days on Connie as she’s a bit much for me,” Littlefield shared. “We have a French rider, Valentin Le Boeuf who does all her trackwork. He’s a lovely rider and got off her this morning and gave me a call and said she was pigrooting, squealing and absolutely off her chops. She’s ready to run the race of her life.”
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