Garrard to resume at Moonee Valley

Trainer Trent Busuttin has pinpointed a Moonee Valley fillies race as an ideal opportunity for Garrard to start her spring campaign on a positive note.

Busuttin, who trains in partnership with Natalie Young, had nominated Garrard for the Quezette Stakes in Melbourne and Silver Shadow Stakes in Sydney on Saturday but elected to bypass both.

Instead he plans to run the filly first-up a week later in a 1200m three-year-old fillies Plate at Moonee Valley, hoping the race comes up a bit softer than the two stakes races.

Garrard has bumped into a few high quality fillies so far in her career.

She was second to Catchy on debut at Moonee Valley then finished second to Houtzen in Queensland at her second start.

The filly narrowly won a maiden at her next start at Bendigo before finishing second again, this time to Shoals in the Group Three Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes at Flemington in her only other start as a juvenile in March.

“While we’re hopeful she’s a stakes filly, and her record probably says she is with that stakes placing, we’d just like to get a win for her to build some confidence,” Busuttin said.

“She has been beaten by three pretty good fillies as a two-year-old. And while she has won a maiden, it would be nice if she we could get a confidence builder at the start of the campaign.

“Whether it works out that way or not, I just thought with a lot of the good fillies running in the Quezette or the Sydney race, this Moonee Valley race might come up a bit lighter.”

Catchy finished second to Crown Witness in the Quezette while Formality won the Silver Shadow.

Garrard is one of 21 entries for the Moonee Valley race headed by Golden Slipper placegetter Tulip.

The stable will be guided by Garrard’s performances, but she is nominated for the Group One Thousand Guineas (1600m).

“We’ll find out where we sit in the pecking order this time in,” he said.