Well-performed speed merchant Babylon Berlin will strip a fitter mare for Saturday’s assignment at Ellerslie.
The daughter of All Too Hard will bid to add to her impressive black-type sprinting record when she steps out in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1200m), a race she won in 2022.
Babylon Berlin opened her current preparation in convincing fashion when she romped away with the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa last month and then finished fifth in the Group 3 Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe.
It was a last-start performance that pleased part-owner and co-trainer Ben Foote, who prepares the mare with son Ryan, after a hiccup between outings.
“She missed a week’s work after Te Rapa with quite a deep-seated stone bruise, so she was always going to be a bit short,” he said.
“I was more than satisfied under the circumstances and she’s done well since.”
The seven-year-old will again be ridden by Vinnie Colgan, who has guided the chestnut’s fortunes in her last two appearances.
A return to northern headquarters and the set weights and penalties conditions of the Concorde will also be in Babylon Berlin’s favour.
“It suits her a lot better than Pukekohe, it seems to be such a long way down that straight, and she loves Ellerslie,” Foote said.
On that theme, the Sistema Railway (1200m) on January 25 will be Babylon Berlin’s main aim.
“That’s definitely the Group One that we’re targeting, whether she goes to the Telegraph (Group 1, 1200m) before than I don’t know at this stage,” Foote said.
“She thrives in the summer months, maybe she likes the hotter weather like her trainer.”
The mare has already placed twice in the Ellerslie feature, and in the Telegraph, and success at the highest level would be a richly deserved reward for the seven-year-old.
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