TRAINER Donna Scott concedes she is second guessing herself in regards to Bennelong Dancer's history making assault on the Country Championship Qualifier at Albury on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bennelong Dancer is aiming to become the first galloper to qualify for three consecutive finals.
But a lacklustre spring campaign where she finished at the tail of the field at Warwick Farm and Benalla is still fresh in the mind of Scott.
"The biggest query in regards to the Championships is she failed to fire in the spring," Scott said.
"In saying that I'm a lot happier with her this preparation then I was back then.
"Last preparation I was never 100 per cent happy with her, not that we could find anything wrong with her.
"It was a bit of a head-scratcher to be honest.
"The silver lining I guess is we get to have another crack at the Championships because she has had less than 20 starts."
IN OTHER NEWS
Bennelong Dancer blitzed her rivals last year in the qualifier at Albury first-up from a spell after having a trial in the lead-up.
Scott has followed the same path this year with her stable star winning a trial at Wodonga earlier this month.
The Steve Cunningham-trained Sasayuri ran second in the trial and was narrowly beaten at Benalla on Tuesday.
Scott said the biggest hiccup this preparation was replacing regular rider Blaike McDougall who was suspended at Wagga last Thursday.
Experienced Victorian provincial jockey Daniel Stackhouse has picked-up the mount on the leading fancy.
"Sasayuri performing well at Benalla gives me a bit of confidence," she said.
"Ideally I would have loved to have given her a start in preference to a trial but she is hard to place with her rating.
"Having a race under her belt would have given me a better indication of exactly where she is at.
"Blaike getting suspended also isn't ideal because he knows the horse so well."