Sizzling Belle upstages colts at Rosehill

Sizzling Belle

The blue and red colours sported by Group One winner Single Gaze have been displayed aboard her stablemate Sizzling Belle at Rosehill with the filly causing a minor upset in the race for two-year-olds.

The Canberra filly came to town on Saturday as a $9.50 chance and the only previous winner in the TAB Plate (1100m) with colts Omar ($3.10) and Outrageous ($4) and Pembroke Castle ($4.40) the ones the punters wanted.

Kathy O’Hara, the regular rider of the Nick Olive-trained Single Gaze, took Sizzling Belle to across from her wide gate to race outside Haunting Spirit.

Sizzling Belle kicked clear in the straight with Outrageous the only serious challenger but the colt was a half head short on the line.

Osorno ($6) finished another 1-1/4 lengths third with Omar weakening to finish last of the eight runners.

While Olive harbours Slipper dreams, a more immediate goal is the Black Opal Stakes on March 11, the feature race in his home town.

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“She is a lovely filly and has done everything right so far,” Olive said.

“She has a lovely turn of foot. My first thoughts are to give her a week in the paddock and get her ready for the Black Opal Preview.

“She’s in the Slipper but we’ll see.”

Single Gaze ran second to Takedown in the 2015 Black Opal and went on to win the Vinery Stud Stakes the following year and more recently was runner-up in the Caulfield Cup.

The mare is in Melbourne getting ready for an autumn campaign with O’Hara to head to Caulfield to give her a jump-out on Tuesday morning.

“She will go to the Orr Stakes first-up,” Olive said.

“They will probably go too fast for her but it’s a starting point to the Australian Cup and then the BMW back here.”