Randwick trainer John Thompson is renowned for his patient approach to training his horses and Saturday marks an important date for the future career of his exciting sprinter Nieta.
The daughter of Nicconi has won six of her 12 starts but to date Thompson has resisted plenty of chances to raise the bar for the five-year-old, something he will do in Saturday's Group III Concorde Stakes (1000m) at Randwick.
After two runs in her last campaign Thompson pulled stumps when Nieta would have been at the peak of her powers with a view to asking more of the speed machine in the spring.
"The races in the winter were 1200m races and I just didn't want to go there at that stage of her career," Thompson said.
"I wanted to try to keep her winning over 1000, 1100m because she's very strong at those distances. That's why I put her out.
"She's come back in really good order and it's time to let her rip. It's time to raise the bar again now.
"Saturday's performance will play a big role in where she goes for the rest of the prep.
"It will decide if we continue on in mixed races or head to Melbourne and contest the mares' races."
Nieta has won four of her five 1000m starts and is undefeated over the short course at Randwick where she returns off two typically impressive trial performances by the mare.
"She's ready to go," Thompson said. "She's come through her trials great and she looks good.
"She worked over half-a-mile on Tuesday. She worked well as she always does.
"She's the sort of mare that if you let her rip she'd run any time you want.
"She's a mare that races well fresh and the 1000m suits her.
"It's a good race, horses like Redzel, Spieth and Felines are a different class to the horses she's raced in the past so it will be a good test for her."
Brenton Avdulla jumps aboard Nieta for the first time on Saturday where she will carry 54kg in a field of six with The Monstar and Super Too the other runners.
