MELBOURNE CUP-winning trainer Mike Moroney is not sure what impact a torrid lead-up run will have on Brazilian Pulse when she contests the AJC Australian Oaks at Randwick on Saturday.
Moroney's three-year-old is out to complete the Oaks double following her win in the VRC equivalent in the spring, when she beat Saturday's AJC Australian Derby winner Shamrocker, which is out for revenge this weekend.
''She pulled up very good, she was bright this morning,'' Shamrocker's trainer Danny O'Brien said yesterday. ''The run doesn't seem to have harmed her and she'll definitely run in the Oaks, all going well.''
A brilliant winner of the Keith Nolan Classic when conceding rivals four kilograms, Brazilian Pulse backed up a week later at Rosehill in the group 1 Vinery Stud Stakes but sat three wide without cover under jockey Craig Williams.
''He knows he made a mistake,'' Moroney said. ''He came in and apologised. He wanted to ride her back with cover but after she jumped so good he should have went forward.
''The moment you come back they keep kicking up inside you.''
Brazilian Pulse finished third behind the Oaks-bound Mirjulisa Lass, and pleased Moroney in gallops at Randwick last week.
''They did break a race record and it looked like she was going to drop right out of it,'' Moroney said of her third in the Vinery. ''But she kept coming. She is tough. I just hope it hasn't taken much out of her. It doesn't appear to have.
''She'll have a bit of strong work with company on Tuesday and everything should be right.''
While confident Shamrocker will tackle the AJC Oaks, O'Brien wasn't so sure about stablemate Placement, which finished third behind Brazilian Pulse and Shamrocker in the VRC Oaks.
Placement finished 11th behind the Ron Quinton-trained Oaks contender Crafty Irna in Saturday's Adrian Knox Stakes at Randwick. ''She went average in the Adrian Knox. She was probably on the worst part of the track but is only 50-50 at this stage to run in the Oaks,'' O'Brien said.
O'Brien is confident Shamrocker can turn the tables on Brazilian Pulse. ''She had a torrid run in the Wakeful last spring. She was galloped on and was only 50-50 of getting to the Oaks, but we managed to get her there,'' O'Brien said.
''Everything this time in has gone according to plan. She has taken the Derby run in her stride. She is a natural staying horse, very clean-winded.''
Meanwhile, Peter Snowden will decide today whether to pay a $15,000 late-entry fee in the Oaks for Saturday's Adrian Knox runner-up Raspberries, which was narrowly beaten when coming from last.
''She has come through the run, but we want to give her another 24 hours before making a decision,'' Snowden said.
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