Three-year-old filly Opal Ridge will be looking to bounce back after tasting her first loss on July 30 at Rosehill Gardens.
The galloper won her first two starts on the country circuit by a combined five lengths, so trainer Luke Pepper felt she deserved her shot at a metropolitan race.
Sent out as a $7 hope, the daughter of Rubick closed off stylishly to finish second, just 1.4 lengths behind Troach who has since placed at Listed level.
Now, Pepper is ready to raise the bar for his stable star again.
Opal Ridge holds a nomination for Saturday’s Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick, and already she has received good market support, firming into $15 in early all-in betting.
2YO Handicap (1100m) race replay | Rosehill Gardens | July 30, 2022
While her Scone trainer knows this is an even tougher assignment than her last, the runs of both Troach and Waverider Buoy – who she beat home last start – on Saturday at Rosehill lifted his spirits even more.
“She definitely hasn’t taken a backward step, that’s for sure,” Pepper told HorseBetting.
“She’s in really good order and we’re looking forward to Saturday.
“We knew it was always going to be throwing her in the deep end going to a Group 2, but watching those fillies run super the other day, definitely made us a little bit more confident.”
Opal Ridge’s debut victory came back in January in a 2YO Handicap at Canberra over 1000m where she settled midfield and raced away from her nine rivals.
She then suffered an injury, which put a hold on her racing career, but patient owners and a caring trainer saw her nursed back to full health ahead of what could be a rewarding spring.
First-up, the filly trounced her rivals at Scone in Benchmark 58 company, pulling away to win by three lengths over 1100m, before running second at Rosehill the following start.
“She obviously won her first start pretty convincingly, and she had an injury and had to go out for a fair while,” the trainer said.
“I always wanted to kick her off somewhere in the country just to make sure she was back where we thought she should be, and she was really good here at Scone on her home track.
“The way she won – there was one two-year-old race left of the season – I thought she deserved her chance in that race, and other than winning, she went super.”
With the recent announcement of increased prizemoney in New South Wales to both country racing and the Princess Series for three-year-old fillies, Pepper says he is leaving “all options open” for his talented sprinter.
Opal Ridge is rated a $13 chance for the $2 million Kosciuszko, with potential slot holders sure to take note should she perform well on Saturday against her own age.
“At the moment we’re just leaving all options open,” Pepper said.
“We just want to get through Saturday and then we’ll come up with a bit of a game plan after Saturday, but all options will definitely be open.
“The Kosciuszko is definitely an option, but with a three-year-old filly, there’s a lot of good money to be won in those three-year-old fillies races.”
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