With a group one Stradbroke Handicap trip off the table for stable star Seventh Up, the onus goes on Iffida to snare a stakes win for Cambridge trainer Shelley Hale today.
Hale has revealed that mucus in Seventh Up's windpipe after his second placing to Galaxy Miss last Saturday at Te Rapa led to her abandoning Brisbane plans for the smart winter galloper.
"Grant Cooksley said again after the race that he's far better right-handed than he is on left-handed tracks, but he still ran well," Hale reported.
"Galaxy Miss had a big pull (6kg) in the weights and she looks like a smart mare so it was still a good effort.
"We scoped him earlier this week and he had a bit of muck in his trachea so he's actually going out. You've got to be 120 per cent if you are going to take on that level of competition." Hale believes she has Iffraaj filly Iffida as close to her peak as she can get her ahead of today's Ellerslie two-year-old feature, the Great Northern Foal Stakes (1400m). "She's good. She's eating well and working well. We're happy," Hale said.