The Lindsay Park stable of Ben, Will and Jd Hayes is viewing a return to a filly’s race at Flemington being the ideal opportunity for Bold Bastille to get back into winning form.
The Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on Saturday is restricted to three-year-old fillies and is a race the Lindsay Park boys are expecting will suit Bold Bastille.
Bold Bastille looked one of the state’s best two-year-olds when successful in the Inglis Banner on Cox Plate Day on debut at Moonee Valley last October and was immediately installed as one of the favourites for Victoria’s premier juvenile race, the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield.
But a hiccup in the lead-up to the Blue Diamond Series forced Bold Bastille to miss the Blue Diamond Preview before the filly was a weakening sixth in the Blue Diamond Prelude.
Lindsay Park shifted their attention to the Listed Festival Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on March 2 which the Bold Bastille won, with wins also coming in the Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield and the VOBIS Gold Rush (1100m) at Bendigo on April 13.
Those victories had Bold Bastille primed for The Showdown (1200m) at Caulfield two weeks later, for which she was favourite, but she broke through the front of the stalls, suffering a head trauma which dislodged one of her teeth.
Sent off for a spell, Lindsay Park had the plan of setting Bold Bastille for the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley last Saturday.
Bold Bastille ran well enough in her lead-up race, the Listed Carlyon Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on August 24, but not well enough for the Hayes brothers to consider a start against open-age Group 1 company, at this stage of her career.
“The Moir came up very strong and she probably needed to go a bit better first-up to warrant going to the Group 1,” Ben Hayes said.
“The form from that first-up run has worked out, so I think this will be a nice race for her and hopefully it will get her back in winning form.
“She’s tightened up. She’s a winner down the straight and if she can run to her last start, then she should be very hard to beat.”