Rogerson Pair Set to go Head to Head

WS graduate Scarlett Lady will make only one appearance in New Zealand before chasing the riches of the Melbourne spring carnival. The daughter of Savabeel will launch her campaign in the opening leg of the Triple Crown at Hastings on August 27 where she will clash with Pins’ dual Gr 1 winner Katie Lee.

The latter was hampered by off tracks in her last preparation and is progressing well toward her return to competition. “I’m really happy with her and I think she’s back to what she was as a three-year-old,” Rogerson said. “She’ll be trialling at Te Teko next week and then have a run at Te Rapa in the Foxbridge Plate before she meets Scarlett Lady at Hastings.”

While Scarlett Lady will be set for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups, another daughter of Savabeel will be taking on the best of her age group. “Dowager Queen will race at Wanganui in the Trudy Thomson Memorial (September 3) and then go for the Guineas in Melbourne and on to the VRC Oaks,” Rogerson said. Dowager Queen won the Listed Rotorua Stakes this season before finishing fourth in both the Gr 1 TJ Smith and Gr 2 Sires’ Produce Stakes at the Queensland winter carnival.

Meanwhile, spring plans have yet to be made for the WS-bred and owned Dating. “She’s in pre-training at Waikato Stud and we’ll see how she comes up,” Rogerson said. “She had quite a hard run in the Oaks in Sydney in really heavy ground and it took a bit out of her so she needed a decent break.” Dating has four wins and four placings from 12 career starts with the O’Reilly filly’s highlight her Gr 3 success in the Desert Gold Stakes. She was also an unlucky fourth in the Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks at Trentham.