Photo: Kelsey Reid
Coach Luke Fernie will start his Melbourne Autumn Festival attack with Shadow Fear in the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) tomorrow at Sandown
Unbeaten in her only two career starts, Fear of the Dark presents itself as one of the key opportunities in the $300,000 event for two-year-olds.
Along with ensuring the blacktype has value, a good performance goes a long way to securing a $2 million start. Blue Diamond (1200m) on February 25th.
Fernie said he was pleased with how Shadow Fear settled on the east coast.
“She did everything right here,” he told TABradio.
“She didn’t leave any food behind.
“She came out of her skin when we came from the pool and went around the track beautifully yesterday.”
Shadow Fear, ridden by Chris Parnham, created the second hurdle for the highlight event.
Sioux Nation’s Daughter is on the third line of bets at $10 with TABtouch, behind Charm Stone ($2.30) and Cigar Flick ($7).
Fernie said he’s looking forward to getting guidance on how to rank Fear of the Dark in the ranks of two-year-olds.
“I’m not quite sure how any two-year-olds line up around here,” he said.
“There are some horses here from Queensland that have become sublime.
“It will be interesting to see how they all come together.”
Fernie will also be represented in the Amelia Park Plate (1000m) for two-year-olds in Ascot tomorrow.
Chubby Bondi Twist Of Gold puts her back on the track, after an underwhelming debut performance following quality galloper Brave Halo in October.
Fernie said he expects Twist Of Gold to do well tomorrow and pushes her case to win a Magic Millions slot at Pinjarra next week.
He said, “I’m really pleased with how she came back from her final preparations.
“Looks like there will be a lot of speed in tomorrow’s race.
“We might have to take her pills and ride her a little colder with Magic Millions seven days later.
“That was her main goal this time around.”
Shadow Fear’s Melbourne premiere will be at 11:20am tomorrow.
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