With two nice fillies looking for a trip, Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman have been forced into pitting Mollynickers and Autumn Angel against one another at Flemington.
The pair run in the Group 2 Kewney Stakes (1600m) on Saturday having started their autumn campaigns in different races last month.
Mollynickers ran a first-up third behind Grinzinger Belle in The Vanity (1400m) at Flemington on February 17 while Autumn Angel was an unlucky sixth in the Angus Armanasco Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield the following week.
Autumn Angel was unable to get clear running at any stage in her first-up outing and Moody said he had been trying to play catch up in his bid to have the filly fit enough to tackle Saturday’s race.
For that reason, Moody suggests Mollynickers is the fitter of the pair, which is also reflected in the market with that filly the $3.80 favourite while Autumn Angel is a $5 chance.
Separating the pair is Grinzinger Belle at $4.60 with online bookmakers, which surprised Moody, who thought that filly would be top elect after her dominant first-up victory at Flemington.
The two Moody and Coleman runners have drawn next to each other – Autumn Angel in five and Mollynickers in gate six – and Moody said luck in running is likely to play a vital role.
“Mollynickers is possibly a tad more forward than the other filly as she had more of a solid hit-out, whereas Autumn Angel is a grosser filly and didn’t get a good gallop at all first-up,” Moody said.
“But there’s very little between them ability wise and luck in running is probably going to be a key part again on Saturday.
“With Autumn Angel, the less said about that first-up run the better.
“We’ve had to keep the work up to her which is why she goes in slightly down on fitness than where I ideally wanted her, but she’s still forward enough if she’s good enough.”
Moody said he would be guided by how the fillies perform on Saturday as to where they are headed, with potential trips to Sydney and Adelaide on the cards.