Evergreen mare Miss Badoura looks set for another successful campaign and will try to make it back-to-back wins at Caulfield on Saturday.The eight-year-old, by 1990 Melbourne Cup winner Kingston Rule, showed no signs of her age catching up with her when she resumed with a solid three-quarter length win over All Ready Got It over 1200m against fillies and mares at Moonee Valley on March 9.Miss Badoura was previously prepared by Steve Clifton at Seymour but when he gave training away the mare went
Evergreen mare Miss Badoura looks set for another successful campaign and will try to make it back-to-back wins at Caulfield on Saturday.
The eight-year-old, by 1990 Melbourne Cup winner Kingston Rule, showed no signs of her age catching up with her when she resumed with a solid three-quarter length win over All Ready Got It over 1200m against fillies and mares at Moonee Valley on March 9.
Miss Badoura was previously prepared by Steve Clifton at Seymour but when he gave training away the mare went to Leon Corstens.
Despite 49 starts for nine wins and 12 placings behind her when she arrived at Corstens' Kyneton property, Miss Badoura has proved to be something of a revelation.
In just six starts she has won three races including a Listed 1600m mares race at Caulfield on Thousand Guineas day last spring beating Bird Of Fire and Princess Marizza in a tight finish.
She made it two straight when dead-heating with Bird Of Fire in the Group Three Inglis Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day.
Corstens sent her for a spell after she finished 11th to Bird Of Fire in the Group Two Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on November 8.
Miss Badoura was nominated for both the Thoroughbred Club Cup (1200m) and the Sky High Mt Dandenong Hcp (1400m) at Caulfield and will run in the latter event.
"She's 10kg heavier now than what she was at the start of her spring campaign," said Corstens marvelling at Miss Badoura who will carry 60kg after in-form apprentice Ibrahim Gundogdu takes his 2kg metropolitan allowance.
Gundogdu replaces another promising apprentice, Brenton Avdulla, who won on the veteran mare at the Valley.
Gundogdu, who turned 21 last Friday, hadn't been on a horse when trainer Mick Kent brought him out from Turkey three years ago to be his stable apprentice.
At Sandown on Wednesday, Gundogdu landed his 27th metropolitan victory and his 138th overall since arriving in Australia on the Kent-trained Partiva.
"He's growing in confidence. It's a great thing confidence," Kent said of Gundogdu.
"He's got a perfect build for a jockey. He rides light and he's got a lot of things going for him so he'll be around for a fair while."
Gundogdu is in demand at the meeting with rides in six of the eight races including Miss Badoura's stablemate Saranda in the Winning Edge Presentations Plate (1000m).
The Helenus three-year-old, who has been gelded since his initial racing preparation, won impressively over 1000m at Sandown at his debut on a heavy track on August 13 last year before failing twice at Group Three level.
He has been fitted for Saturday's race with placings in two Cranbourne trials.
Gundogdu will also ride the Mark Kavanagh-trained Ace Harmony in the No Fuss Solutions Hcp (2000m), Ray Cleaver's Whitehaven Girl in the L. U. Simon Builders Plate (1100m), the Ken Keys-trained Musical Hit in the Sportingbet Hcp (1600m) and Russell Cameron's nine-year-old Bird Dancer in the BTB Australia Directional Drilling Hcp (1600m).