HORSE RACING
GRAHAME Begg’s talented mare, Miss Siska, will be out to win her third race in succession on Saturday 7 March when she lines up in the Group 1 Australian Cup at Flemington.
The younger sister of the dual Group 1 winning sprinter, Hay List, defeated several key runners of the Australian Cup two weeks ago at Caulfield when saluting in the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes on Saturday 22 February.
The six-year-old daughter of So You Think, who is trained out of Jonathon Munz’s Pinecliff property in Mt Eliza, is really starting to hit her straps this preparation, according to her trainer Grahame Begg.
“I know she’s getting on in age, but I think last preparation really seasoned her up for this current preparation,” Begg said.
“She hasn’t had a lot of racing but she’s only probably starting to come to the fore now.”
Miss Siska followed up a dominant first-up performance with a tough on-pace victory over Australian Cup contenders Kings Will Dream, Regal Power, Mirage Dancer and 2018 and 2019 Australian Cup victor, Harlem, last start.
Despite the track clearly favouring those on speed across the Caulfield meeting, jockey Damian Lane said she didn’t have it as easy as some may think.
“It wasn’t all rainbows and lollipops like last start,” he said. “I had to do a bit of work early and she had to do all the work outside of the leader. She sprinted well and fought off Kings Will Dream when it counted.”
The valuable future broodmare won’t be fazed by the extra furlong of the 2000m Australian Cup having finished runners-up in the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes over the track and trip last preparation before running into second in the Sandown Classic (2400m) at her next start.
Begg said they won’t need to do too much with Miss Siska heading into Saturday’s Group 1 contest.
“She’s a pleasure to train and she makes my job easy,” he said. “She just goes and gets the job done, comes home and eats up at night. We don’t overwork her, we just let her poke through her gears. Steve Roberts down there [at Pinecliff] does a wonderful job with the staff and he’s got her going really well.”
Following on from her run in the Australian Cup, Begg said a trip up to Sydney could also be on the cards for Miss Siska if all goes to plan on Saturday.
“We’ve had a bit of luck up there in the last two years and we’ll certainly head up there if we think it’s right,” he said. “We’ve got to be mindful of wet tracks up there because she loves being up on top of the ground, so we’ll see how it plays out.”
First published in the Mornington News – 3 March 2020
