Peter Snowden isn't convinced he has the right horse to give Crown Lodge a sixth straight Run To The Rose win but he'll be a happy man if proven wrong at Rosehill.Snowden will start impressive debut winner Classics in Saturday's Group Three 1300m feature, a race the stable has dominated since Paratroopers claimed victory in 2005."It's a bit of a shot in the dark this year, I didn't think we had the right horse, but racing is a funny thing and you never know," Snowden said."This filly could jump
Peter Snowden isn't convinced he has the right horse to give Crown Lodge a sixth straight Run To The Rose win but he'll be a happy man if proven wrong at Rosehill.
Snowden will start impressive debut winner Classics in Saturday's Group Three 1300m feature, a race the stable has dominated since Paratroopers claimed victory in 2005.
"It's a bit of a shot in the dark this year, I didn't think we had the right horse, but racing is a funny thing and you never know," Snowden said.
"This filly could jump out of the ground."
Classics led all the way on debut to post a 4-1/4-length win on a heavy track at Canterbury on July 28.
The performance was enough to convince Snowden that Classics deserved her chance in the traditional Golden Rose lead-up event, despite the sharp rise in grade.
"She's probably thrown in the deep end a bit but she's a filly I've always thought a bit of, her win was dominant at Canterbury at her first start and I think she's worthy of a crack at a race like that," Snowden said.
"She's still very new and lacks race experience but she has got plenty of natural ability, always has.
"She has always been a very good track worker - it takes a pretty fair horse to stay with her on the track.
"Now she's just got the learn her trade and you only do that with racing."
Crown Lodge has produced the winner of every Run To The Rose since Darren Beadman rode Paratroopers to victory five years ago.
At that stage Snowden was foreman to John Hawkes, a position he also held when Beadman rode Mentality (2006) and El Cambio (2007) to victory in the race.
Snowden took over as head trainer of the operation in November 2007 and under the Darley Australia banner has since won the Run To The Rose with Desuetude in 2008 and Denman last year.
Classics, a daughter of Commands out of Salinger Stakes winner Ancient Song, was on Friday rated a $9 chance for the Run To The Rose.
It's the same price stablemate Obsequious was sent out last Saturday at Randwick when the filly upstaged her more fancied rivals to win Sydney's first three-year-old stakes race of the season, the San Domenico Stakes (1000m).
Paratroopers, Mentality, El Cambio, Desuetude and Denman all went on to run in the Golden Rose with Paratroopers and Denman winning the $1 million event while the other three all finished in the placings.
Snowden said he would see how Classics performed in her big test on Saturday before deciding where the filly headed next.
Rosehill was rated a heavy (8) on Friday afternoon but track manager Lindsay Murphy said it was "heading very much towards a slow (7)" for the start of the meeting on Saturday.
A slow track would enhance the prospects of quality gallopers Masquerader, Kudakulari and Sasa making their returns in the Run To The Rose.