Classy mare See You In Heaven will try and put her name among illustrious company when she chases a second successive $150,000 Group 3 Behemoth Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
The race formerly named the Spring Stakes has some stars of the turf on it’s honour roll including the likes of Redelva and Hero Wind - both three-time winners - Rebel Raider, Happy Trails and Behemoth, the most recent multiple winner.
The Richard and Chantelle Jolly-trained mare dominates the market for the feature as a $3 favourite in the feature despite being first-up from a lengthy break.
“She had a jump-out prior to her trial the other day and she probably lacks a bit of race fitness,’’ Richard Jolly said.
“She hasn’t raced for a while now, she’s not quite as fit as she was last year, but they don’t lose their ability,’’ he said.
The five-year-old hasn’t raced since she was beaten 5.75 lengths behind Attrition in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield last October and Jolly said she would take plenty out of Saturday’s return.
“She had a preparation in between but bruised up in the feet and went sore so we put her out again,’’ Jolly said.
“She did the same the year before, she just didn’t handle the hard tracks at that time of year.
“We haven’t had any trouble along the way this time in, we expect a good run from her, but there is still plenty of improvement in her,’’ he said.
See You In Heaven will jump from the same barrier (10) she won last year’s race from and Jolly said the wide gates can sometimes play into your favour late in the day.
“In an ideal world you would probably have liked to draw somewhere between five to seven, but sometimes by that time of the day at Morphettville you don’t want to be on the fence.
“It might be preferred ground by that time,’’ he said.
The stable also have a couple of nice horses returning including Deepfloat Diva who created a big impression winning his first two starts and The Golden Fist who has just one start when he was heavily backed on debut at Morphettville earlier in the year.
“Deepfloat Diva is only rated 63, we’d like to go through the grades with him,’’ Jolly said.
“He’s had tie-back surgery, he trialled up well back in February but we weren’t happy, he was making a lot of noise.
“I thought his trial the other day was good, as was The Golden Fist.
“He’s the same as See You In Heaven, he went sore in the feet last time in work.
“He’s another one who has trialled really good. Especially for a maiden, I trialled him in an open trial to get on the better grass and I thought he was pretty good, he’s got nice ability,’’ he said.
