Written by Paul Vettise
Toby Edmonds is rightly buoyed by the second-up record of Houtzen (I Am Invincible) and hoping it will again be to the fore at Moonee Valley on Friday evening.
The four-year-old will go into the G1 Charter Keck Cramer Moir S., off the back of an encouraging effort to open her campaign and she is unbeaten in three starts following a resuming run.
“She’s fit and nice and fresh and she has performed pretty well after a first-up run,” the Gold Coast-based conditioner said.
“She’s fit and nice and fresh and she has performed pretty well after a first-up run.” – Toby Edmonds.
“This year she's a lot more mature and she's handling all the travelling really well. We've kept her fresh for the 1000 metres and she’s ready to go.”
With the likes of Nature Strip (Nicconi) and Ball Of Muscle (Dubawi {IRE}) in the line-up, it’s fair to expect a hot pace.
“There's going to be good speed and we're confident she'll get a good trail and finish off strongly,” Edmonds said.
“We've always thought she'd be better if we could ride her a little bit off them. I don't mind the three weeks between runs and with blinkers on she'll be quite sharp.”
Houtzen winning the G3 P J Bell Stakes at Randwick
In fine fettle
Houtzen was a gallant second behind race rival Nature Strip, who smashed the Moonee Valley track record, in the G2 McEwen S., in her return and Edmonds said she had come through the race in grand order.
“She bounced into the feed bin and was quite bright the next morning and has been ever since,” Edmonds said.
“She’s done well and she gets her chance at a Group 1. It’s obviously a tough field but I couldn’t be any happier and hopefully all the stars are aligned for her,” Edmonds said.
“It’s obviously a tough field but I couldn’t be any happier and hopefully all the stars are aligned for her.” - Toby Edmonds said.
“There was a lot left in her that day and we went in quite underdone so for her to do that I was quite surprised and it didn't flatten her at all. That was my concern in the days after but she came through the run really well.”
The dual Group 3 winner of six of her 14 starts, Houtzen will have a light spring campaign.
“As long as she runs well, she’ll probably go to the Manikato next,” Edmonds said. “We don’t need to go too deep this preparation, maybe three or four races.”
A $105,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase, Houtzen is out of the Reset mare Set To Unleash, who is out of a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Sun Classique (Fuji Kiseki {JPN}).
Houtzen as a yearling
