A gear change together with an important track outing on Tuesday morning will help Anthony and Sam Freedman decide whether Place Du Carrousel will head to Flemington on Saturday for a redeeming tilt at another Spring Carnival feature, and keep a Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup path on course.
The Group 1 Turnbull Stakes (2000m) was slated to be the high-priced mare’s next outing after a disappointing run in the Underwood Stakes over the same distance at Caulfield behind Buckaroo on September 21.
“She was plain last time,” Sam Freedman said of the now five-year-old French Group 1-winning mare who was bought for more than four million euro (AU$6.5 million) in 2023.
“She pulled up and her wind wasn’t great. I think she may have flipped her palate which can happen.
“It wasn’t something I’d heard when she’s come back from a race or a gallop before so it was unusual.
“I want to watch her work on Tuesday to make a call.”
Jockey Mark Zahra also commented to stewards on the day that Place Du Carrousel was agitated and made a noticeable breathing noise.
“We’ll put the crossover nose band on her, and we’re working on a few things over the next week,” Freedman added.
“She does need to work well on Tuesday to warrant lining up on Saturday. It will be a tough ask.
“We just want her to be in great order going into it.”
Place Du Carrousel is at $15 across all-in markets for the Turnbull Stakes where the Chris Waller-trained Via Sistina holds favouritism at $3 with betting companies.
Also from the Freedman Mornington yard, three-year-old filly Ameena will skip the Group 1 Flight Stakes (1600m) in favour of the Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) two weeks later on Caulfield Cup Day.
Winner of the Group 2 Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) in August, Ameena was unable to emulate that result in the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) at Randwick eight days ago.
“It was a funny race,” Freedman said.
“They just didn’t go any (faster) tempo and we felt that she just keeps drawing badly.
“She is probably capable of holding a spot. We’ve seen her lead up in her early races.
“She’s back in Melbourne now and will head towards the Thousand Guineas Prelude.”
