The 2015 Tressady Stakes field has been released and talented mare Star Fashion is set to return to racing in the Group 3 event at Flemington on Saturday.
David Hayes is confident that Star Fashion will perform well fresh in the Tressady Stakes. Photo by: Race Horse Photos Australia
Star Fashion was sold to new owners in Hong Kong after she finished a credible sixth in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks (2400m) in May last year, but she failed a vet check and continued her racing career in Australia during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival.
The Street Cry mare started her spring campaign with a surprise win in the Dalziel Racing Tile Handicap (1400m) at Caulfield on September 20 before she stamped herself as a genuine Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at the same venue on October 15.
Star Fashion did not have any luck whatsoever in the Group 1 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day and she was sent to the spelling paddock after finishing a credible seventh in the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at the same venue a week later.
Hayes told TVN that he has been happy with Star Fashion heading into the Group 3 Tressady Stakes (1400m) and he believes that the four-year-old can make a winning return to racing this weekend.
“Star Fashion is first-up and can pull out a good sprint fresh,” Hayes said.
Star Fashion will be joined in the 2015 Tressady Stakes by stablemate Girl Guide, who will be racing for the second weekend in a row.
Girl Guide stamped herself as a talented sprinting mare during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival, but she was beaten as a short-priced favourite in the Group 3 Bellmiane Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 14 before she finished at the tail of the field in the Group 3 Mannerism Stakes (1400m) at the same venue on Saturday.
Hayes said that Girl Guide may not have come up for her 2015 Melbourne Festival Of Racing campaign, but he is hoping that the Churchill Downs mare can produce an improved performance with a bit more luck in running.
“She got an indifferent ride from Craig, which he confessed to of cause,” Hayes said.
“I’m not convinced that she has come up and she did run last, but it was a good last.
“Everything went wrong and I would just forget that she went around.”
The 2015 Tressady Stakes field was released on Saturday and the Hayes-trained duo will face the likes of Politeness, Girl Guide, Girl In Flight, Dig A Pony and Scratchy Bottom in the Group 3 event this weekend.
