Peter Moody sent Kneeling to Scone with black-type aspirations but all the mare came away with was a kinked neck.
Kneeling was declared a non-runner in the Ortensia Stakes after stewards ruled she was denied a fair start because she had her head in an adjoining stall when the field jumped.
The mare did benefit from some race fitness, eventually tumbling out of the gates an estimated six lengths last and making good ground to pass all but a handful of rivals.
The performance does not appear in her form for Saturday’s June Stakes (1100m) at Randwick but Moody’s Sydney foreperson Clare Cunningham said the stable was rapt with Kneeling’s Scone `run’.
“We were just disappointed they let the field go when she wasn’t ready,” Cunningham said.
“She made huge ground.”
Originally raced by Patinack Farm, Kneeling has been with Moody for 12 months and in that time has posted three of her four career wins.
All of those have been on rain-affected tracks and she will get those conditions at Randwick after rain on Thursday tipped the track deep into the slow range, verging on heavy.
An enigmatic performer throughout her career, Kneeling is an $11 chance in early markets but on her best form Cunningham is confident she can test the favourites on Saturday.
“You can’t declare her, she’s up and down, a typical mare,” she said.
“Hopefully she wants to be there on the day on Saturday.”
A good performance in the June Stakes could prolong Kneeling’s pending stud career with the Group One Tatt’s Tiara (1400m) at Eagle Farm on June 21 likely to be considered by connections if she wins.
“I thought this was nearly her last crack but in saying that, if she does win it might throw another ball into the game and there’s probably no reason not to chase something more if she’s pulled up well,” Cunningham said.