By BARRY STREET
Tauranga trainer Jim Pender has raised his sights to group two level with Ma Danseuse.
The mare stylishly won the $15,000 open-class 1400m on her home track on Saturday.
"I'm looking to run her in the spring in either the Lion Brown at Rotorua or the Fayette Park at Hawera," Pender said yesterday.
"Both are on October 14. Both are group two and worth $40,000, and the only difference is the distance.
"Before then she could run in a 1200m for fillies and mares at Matamata at the end of this month."
In Pender's opinion, 5-year-old Ma Danseuse is under-rated.
As a 3-year-old, he said, she ran third in a Highview Stakes and fourth in a Lowland Stakes without much luck in either.
"And she is a lot stronger now than she was then," he said.
"She would never have won over 1400m in heavy ground, as she did yesterday, earlier in her career."
A "funny nature" is Ma Danseuse's only flaw, Pender maintains.
"She races very consistently and always tries hard, but you certainly can't organise her.
"The only way to ride her is to let her bowl along at her own speed.
"She was acting so weirdly yesterday that I thought she'd run either a blinder or a shocker."
So far this season Pender has had only a few horses racing, but he says he has a team of promising, young, untried horses who give him a feeling of optimism.
Racing: Ma Danseuse aims at group two glory
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