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A six horse field for a Group 2 feature isn’t ideal for many but, when you’re chasing black type success for a future broodmare, it’s a great scenario.
Trainer Enver Jusufovic intended to aim Neighbourhood at the autumn but, when the nominations came up thin, he jumped at the chance to potentially pinch a placing in what is, in class, the strongest race of her career.
“I honestly thought the nominations would have been a lot stronger … There’s no Black Caviar or Scales of Justice in it so, I think she’ll be competitive,” Jusufovic said.
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Enver Jusufovic is trying something different with stable favourite Neighbourhood as both trainer and horse chase a maiden Stakes win in Friday’s Standish Handicap (1200m) at Flemington.
The Group 3 feature only recently came onto the radar for the talented five-year-old, who was set to be aimed at black-type mares races during Tasmania’s Summer Carnival.
But so slick was her piece of work earlier in the week that Jusufovic decided give Neighbourhood her chance in what, on Wednesday, turned out to be a race of only seven rivals.
The daughter of Street Boss has been freshened since gallant performances in the Group 2 Linlithgow Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1300m), with Jusufovic cautiously optimistic she can produce another of her trademark first-up runs on Friday.