A drop in grade could provide the impetus for Express Power to rediscover some of her early promise, starting at Rosehill on Saturday.
Trained by Kris Lees, Express Power showed ability over middle distances during her autumn three-year-old campaign when she finished runner-up to Royal Descent in the Adrian Knox Stakes.
That effort earned her a trip to Queensland where she won the 2013 Gold Coast Bracelet and finished a luckless seventh to Dear Demi in the Doomben Roses.
She resumed with two promising runs earlier this year but when her form tapered off, Lees decided to pull the pin on her Sydney autumn campaign and lower the bar.
“She just trained off a bit last preparation so I gave her a freshen-up,” Lees said.
“It’s a bit softer company she meets at this time of year so hopefully she can have a good preparation.”
Express Power returned from a nine-week break with a fifth to Kristy Lee over 1200m at Rosehill on May 31.
Lees saw merit in that performance and is hoping the mare can improve with better luck and a distance rise to 1400m in Saturday’s Ardrossan Batlow Apples Handicap at Rosehill.
“She didn’t have a lot of room last start and she probably should have finished a bit closer,” Lees said.
With Nash Rawiller replacing apprentice Priscilla Schmidt, Express Power is on the third line of betting at $8.
The Chris Waller-trained Sense And Reason is favoured to take her winning streak to three following back-to-back victories at Warwick Farm and Randwick.