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Race experience to aid Sistine Explorer

3 minute read

After a debut second at Geelong, Sistine Explorer makes her way to Flemington for her second start.

Andrew Noblet is banking on race experience being vital when Sistine Explorer makes her city debut at Flemington

Sistine Explorer is pitted against Invincible Caviar, a debutant daughter of Black Caviar, in the VRC Member Philip Jacobsen Sprint (1100m) on Saturday. 

A two-year-old by Brazen Beau, Sistine Explorer made her debut at Geelong last month, finishing second to Moon Over Alice, another opponent on Saturday, over 1140m. 

"The horse next to her was playing up and she got a bit of a fright and missed the start and ended up a lot further back that what we really wanted, but she hit the line really hard," Noblet said. 

"She got through that well and she's come on nicely since then." 

Noblet said he was not tempted to push Sistine Explorer too hard, too early saying the filly was a bit backward in her early days. 

"She needed a bit of time to get a set of legs, but she's always shown us something, so it was always going to be a matter of time. 

"She'll probably have this run and then have a little break." 

Noblet said the late winter and early spring three-year-old filly's races may come around too quickly for Sistine Explorer and likes the sound of an extended spring carnival. 

The Melbourne Racing Club announced last week the Zipping Classic meeting was being pushed back by two weeks. 

"I think she'll be a nice three-year-old for the back half of the spring," Noblet said. 

"That's the bonus with the spring now and I reckon it's a great initiative. 

"If you have a set-back at all along the way and you're not going to get there for the early part, you can take stock and look towards the back-end of the spring."