Trainer Andrew Noblet says he has to trust Foxy Frida ahead of the mare’s planned start in the Listed Ballarat Cup.

Foxy Frida ran fifth in the race last year at her first attempt at 2000m, but the then four-year-old entered that contest off a Flemington win.

Move forward 12 months later and Foxy Frida enters Saturday’s Ballarat Cup coming off beating just one runner home on the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on November 5.

Noblet cannot put his finger on an excuse for the flop, the first time the mare has produced a disappointing run in her 20-start career that has netted six wins.

“We’re clutching at straws a bit, but she hit a pretty firm track and it’s the first time she’s hit one of those for a while,” Noblet said.

“That might have been it, but we’ve vetted her, and she seems in good shape.

“She worked well this morning (Tuesday) on heavy ground on the course proper down the back straight, so hopefully that’s all it was.”

While winless in her four runs this campaign, Foxy Frida had finished fourth in her previous three outings, all in stakes company.

Noblet said those lead up runs to the Matriarch Stakes had all been satisfactory.

“Her form had been good prior to her last run in better races than leading up to last year’s Ballarat Cup,” Noblet said.

“But you would like to be going into it with a better run under the belt, but she’s never run badly before, so you can forgive her for one bad one.

“We are going into the Cup this year knowing more about her this year than last year.

“Last year we were guessing whether she would run the 2000 (metres) whereas this year we know she can perform at that good level over that ground.”

Foxy Frida came from near last to be beaten 1-¼ lengths by Zayydani in last year’s Ballarat Cup while in May the mare was too strong in the Listed Centaurea Stakes (2025m) at Morphettville, her only two other 2000m races prior to the Matriarch Stakes.

In a bid for a change of luck, Patrick Moloney takes over on Saturday from Damien Oliver who has been aboard the mare in her four starts this campaign.