Dance With Her will skip the entire 2013 Spring Racing Carnival with trainer David Brideoake choosing to save the veteran mare for next year’s autumn.

Dance With Her finished second behind Lights Of Heaven (pictured) in the 2012 Brisbane Cup. Photo by: Daniel Costello

The rising seven-year-old has not been seen at the races since finishing third behind Julienas and Permit in the Listed Manion Cup (2400m) at Rosehill in March and will spend a substantial period in the spelling paddock before returning for the 2014 Autumn Racing Carnival.

Dance With Her was far from disgraced during the 2012 Spring Racing Carnival, finishing fifth behind Southern Speed in the Group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) and second in the Group 3 JRA Cup (2040m), but Brideoake believes that the daughter of Al Maher performs at her best during the autumn.

The mare has recorded impressive wins in the Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m), Listed Centauera Stakes (2005m) and Yarra Valley Cup (1950m) during her past two autumn campaigns and Brideoake said that she will target similar races next year.

“She’s in the paddock and we’re going to by-pass the spring with her,” Brideoake told TVN.

“We’ll target the autumn with her that seems to be the best time of year for her.

“Her autumn program will be aimed where we can finish in a race like the Brisbane Cup.”

Brideoake admits that Dance With Her, who has recorded twelve wins from forty-seven starts and accumulated $766,153 since making her racing debut in 2009, is reaching the end of her career but believes she is still good enough to win a couple more big races before she is retired.

“I would think this would probably be her last season of racing before she goes to stud but we’re expecting good things from her,” the Mornington-based trainer said.

Dance With Her’s stablemate Ominous Quality is set to run in the Super National Jockeys Celebration Handicap (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.