Six-year-old mare Niance will kick off a new campaign when she lines up in the Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on Saturday week.
The Grahame Begg-trained daughter of Swiss Ace has had two jump outs to prepare for the early spring target, winning an 800m hitout at Cranbourne on Monday.
The Kiwi import has only raced once over the short course of 1000m, when winning a Pakenham 0-64 at her first start for Begg.
Initially trained by Shaun and Emma Clotworthy in New Zealand, Niance has won six of her seven starts since crossing the Tasman and sports the Ace Bloodstock colours.
“She is a very good mare that is going particularly well,” Begg said.
“She is in fantastic condition. We actually gave her another jump out here at Cranbourne last Monday just to top her off going into the Moir because it’s not easy going into a Group One first up.
“I always believe it is a pretty tall order but its only 1000m. We thought to give her that extra bit of hardness going into the race we would give her that jump out which she went really well in and we are now looking forward to Saturday week.”
Niance made a cameo appearance in late May when winning the Listed Bel Esprit Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield after a lengthy layoff due to a paddock accident in which she suffered a fractured skull.
“The problem was we didn’t know how she injured herself,” Begg said.
“They found her and she had swelling to the skull but there was no sign of any head trauma, so we were a bit miffed as to what happened to her.
“It (injury) got infected and the bone was getting rejected from the body and we had to do surgery to remove the fragments.
“She has a great will to win this mare. She is just a very good, rounded horse.
“I think her preference is for good ground with just the edge off but she can handle all sorts of ground.
“She always puts her hand up.”
Niance is a $5 joint favourite for the Moir along with Baraqiel and Alabama Lass.
“It is shaping up as a pretty good race,” Begg said. “They were all originally saying it was a weak race but now there are horses coming from Sydney, Brisbane and it is going to be a strong enough race and there is even going to be Alabama Lass from New Zealand.” – NZ Racing Desk
