“We’ve always had Australia in the back of our minds for her and she had a couple of unlucky runs before her last start at Te Rapa,” Go Racing General Manager Matt Allnutt said.
“That was the race that was going to decide whether she went over or not.
“She duly went out and won that and there’s not much left for her in New Zealand, especially with the way the tracks are, so we’re trying our luck in Queensland.”
Saturday’s performance will determine the length of Velocious’ stay in Australia.
“If she came out and won, there are other races for her coming up and we would like to think she’s going to run very well,” Allnutt said.
“Then we can push on and reassess targets, basically it’s an open-ended ticket at this stage.”
Velocious has six victories from her 12 starts, including the Gr.1 Systema Stakes (1200m) and Listed Karaka Millions (1200m) to earn champion juvenile honours before underwent a wind operation earlier this season.
She has returned to win twice, both noteworthy efforts against older open grade opposition, and in between times had little luck when out of the frame in the Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and in an age group event at Ellerslie.
“Thankfully, Michael McNab got her out of the gates well last start and got the job done for us,” Allnutt said.
Bred by Inglewood Stud, Velocious was a $190,000 Karaka purchase for Go Racing who also purchased her younger half-sister by Dundeel for $300,000.
Also trained by Marsh, Alacritous suffered an interrupted passage when unplaced on debut before she beat Cream Tart, a runaway winner on Monday, at Matamata.
“She went away for a spell after that and is a different type being by Dundeel,” Allnutt said.
“We’ve taken our time with her and she’ll come back into work shortly and be prepared for the 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m), all going well.”
Meanwhile, Go Racing’s Maison Louis has won three of his six starts and finished fourth in the Gr.3 Rough Habit Plate (2000m) at Doomben in his final Derby lead-up. Ben Melham has been booked to ride the son of Super Seth on Saturday.
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
