Aloisia in Chairman’s Sale

The G1 Thousand Guineas winner Aloisia (NZ) (Azamour {Ire}) is the latest high-profile entrant headed to the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.

Also a multiple placegetter at the top level, the 4-year-old will be offered by Newgate Farm as a racing and breeding proposition at the auction to be held at the Riverside Stables on the evening of Friday, May 3.

“We’re honoured that OTI has entrusted us to sell her at The Chairman’s Sale,” Newgate’s Bruce Slade said.

Inglis’ NSW Bloodstock Manager Chris Russell had no doubt Aloisia would garner both domestic and international buyer interest.

“It is very rare for a filly of this quality to come on the open market and we are hugely appreciative to Terry Henderson and his partners at OTI for the opportunity to offer her at our Chairman’s Sale,’’ Russell said.

Blinkers the Slipper play

The connections of Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) will play their trump card in the G1 Golden Slipper S.

The colt will run in Saturday’s G2 Todman Slipper S. without headgear, but will have a new look in his grand final.

Dubious landed the G3 Breeders' Plate on debut at Randwick last spring and won again in Brisbane in December before running second in the $2 million Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast in January.

Dubious has had blinkers on in two barrier trials in the past month, but his co-trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace have held off using them on race day.

"We basically discussed blinkers straight after the Magic Millions," Eustace said.

"He ran a super race. He's not lazy, but he's just relaxed so he was probably chasing the game just a little bit in the Millions and we just think the blinkers will help him travel, which they definitely will.

"We just wanted to save them for the Slipper and have that desired effect on the big day."

Sydney best option

Victorian mare Extreme Bliss (Al Maher) has had her past two starts at Randwick and will be back at the Sydney track for a crack at the G3 Aspiration Quality.

Trainer David Brideoake had also nominated Extreme Bliss for Flemington on Saturday, but settled on the Randwick race as the best option for the 4-year-old who he bred and also part-owns.

"The quality in Sydney is pretty good but then the quality in Melbourne in the same type of race was probably stronger," Brideoake said.

"I was thinking which way I'd go, but I thought the Sydney option was the best."

Extreme Bliss takes on what Brideoake describes as a tough field, but he believes the mare deserves her chance to try to secure black-type.

Big day for Balfour

South Australian trainer Ryan Balfour will celebrate a career best victory if talented filly Kenyan Wonder (Zoustar) can win at Flemington.

With success at Listed level by stable stalwart and All-Star Mile candidate, Balf's Choice, his biggest so far, Balfour has had his eyes set on Saturday's Group Two Kewney Stakes for some time.

Balfour said everything was on track for the filly’s G2 Kewney S. bid following her resuming win over 1200 metres at Morphettville on February 16.

"We've had the race in mind for a while, but I just wanted to see her run well first-up," Balfour said.

"She went around about 80 per cent with a lot of improvement to come.

"We know this is a huge jump in grade, a lot bigger test, but we're excited about her and we're looking forward to seeing her on the big track at Flemington."

Aquanita trainers fighting bans

Four trainers argue their bans should be overturned because the stablehand at the centre of the "Aquanita eight" doping conspiracy rarely went through with administering the "top-ups".

Racing Victoria contends the four are still guilty of corrupt conduct by being party to a plan to cheat, but maintains the illegal race day top-ups did in fact occur.

Trainers Robert Smerdon (life ban), Stuart Webb (four years), Tony Vasil (three years) and Liam Birchley (one year) are fighting their disqualifications in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The argument over planned versus actual administration of top-ups of sodium bicarbonate and Tripart paste is key to whether the charges are upheld or dismissed.

Barrister Jeff Gleeson QC on Friday said RV's position was the proposed or planned administrations referred to in text messages were successfully carried out and planned administration was enough to sustain the corrupt conduct charge.

Float driver Greg Nelligan, who was banned for life, last year told VCAT the majority of times he only pretended to give horses top-ups because he feared getting caught.

Noble chasing Group 1 double

Karaka trainer Lance Noble will take two strong Group 1 chances to Ellerslie on Saturday and he is hoping they can improve off their last-start runs at Matamata last month.

Stakes-winning filly Bavella (Snitzel) will contest the G1 Sistema S. in the colours of Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay.

She was unbeaten heading into the G2 Matamata Breeders’ S. last month and Noble cited a tardy beginning as a contributing factor to her unplaced finish.

“Nothing went right for her,” he said. “She hadn’t had a run for three months, so she was a little bit fresh. We got further back than we intended and from there the race was really over the way it was run.”

“You are obviously disappointed when you are going in as favourite and you have been unbeaten, but when you weigh it all up, the run wasn’t as bad as it probably seemed.”

Stablemate Prince Jabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) has undergone a meteoric rise this season, resulting in a tilt at the G1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup.

Sale catalogue online

New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales series heads south to showcase the South Island session with the 61-lot catalogue available online.

The Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch will host the Sale on Monday, 29 April with selling commencing from 11am.

With yearlings accounting for all the catalogue, they are eligible to be nominated for the lucrative Karaka Million series, which comprises two $1 million races – the Karaka Million 2YO and the Karaka Million 3YO Classic – in addition to the $100,000 CollinsonForex Karaka Cup.

Highlighting the quality southern product on offer at the Sale each year, 14 individual stakes winners have laid claim to 23 stakes wins since the start of the 2014-15 season.

Big future tipped for The Green Dragon

Promising juvenile The Green Dragon (Rothesay) impressed his connections with his debut third at Counties last month and they are hoping he is now on a Group 1 path.

Co-trainer Pam Gerard said the colt is likely to run at Matamata next week to continue his preparation toward the G1 Courtesy Ford Manawatu Sires’ Produce S. at Awapuni later this month.

“I love this horse, I think he is going to be a really good horse,” Gerard said. “It was a huge run considering he has only had the one trial.

“I think he has got a lot of untapped ability there. He’s still learning and is a very laid-back colt.”