Niance Aiming to Rise Up Ranks in Moir Stakes

A little mare who's recovered from an injury you'd want like a hole in the head will chase top-tier glory while seeking to extend a hot record for females in the AU$750,000 Moir Stakes (G1) Sept. 6 at Moonee Valley Racecourse. Niance (NZ) might also be on trial for a slot in the AU$20 million The Everest (G1) when she contests a mouth-watering edition of the Moir, striving to give Grahame Begg his second success in the race, and his first in 22 years. The lightly raced 6-year-old is from the Begg stable, which is a major tick in itself these days, with the Cranbourne trainer being one of the form conditioners in the country at present. This season (as of Sept. 3), seven of his 20 runners have won—and four of his past six—including last Saturday's Cockram Stakes (G3) scorer Magic Time (AUS), already a group 1-winning mare from the stable. "Good management I guess," Begg quipped, when asked for a reason. "But it is nice to have it all come together." Having prepared Niance for her first-up test with two jump-outs and a barrier trial, Begg is confident she can continue a trajectory that in little more than a year has taken her through four wins, from mares' Benchmark 78 grade to group 3 success. He'd be a little more confident had she not been crueled at the barrier draw for what looks a classic edition of the Moir, but says Niance is ready to acquit herself well. "There were only two marbles left at the barrier draw when her name came up—12 and 13," he said with a wry laugh. "We knew we were up against it." Still, Niance—who should jump from gate 11 once the emergency comes out—was an AU$4.40 equal favorite on Wednesday for her first trip to Moonee Valley, alongside last-start course and distance winner Baraqiel. "I'm reasonably confident she'll run very well for us," Begg told ANZ News. "It's a very good field—they don't give away group 1s—but she's got a great fresh record, and that'll stand her in good stead," Begg said of the mare who's won four from four first-up. "She's certainly got to take the next step, but every time we've raised the bar with her, she's put her hand up. Plus, she's good at 1,000 meters." The possibility of rain was forecast for Thursday, and with three wins from five starts on soft going, Begg believes his mare will be in the race up to her ears. Coincidentally, that's where the troubles emerged that put a check on her meteoric progress, and that have helped to make her a lightly raced 6-year-old, with seven wins from 11 starts. Having transferred to Begg after four New Zealand runs yielding one win on debut in maiden class, Niance showed her quality in her first preparation with three wins out of four. She started with a 1 1/2-length win at Pakenham—still her only run over 1,000 meters—before two Melbourne city victories. She returned last spring to enhance her value with her first two black-type successes—in Caulfield's Alinghi Stakes and How Now Stakes (G3). In the latter, she relegated to the minor placings two mares who've subsequently shone: with the second-placed She's Bulletproof (AUS) going on to run second in the Oakleigh Plate (G1), while the third-placed Miss Roumbini (AUS) won an AU$1 million race on Magic Millions day and was second last Saturday in Magic Time's Cockram Stakes. Begg was aiming for the Oakleigh Plate with Niance as well when disaster and mystery struck. Niance was found in her spelling paddock with a fractured skull—right between the ears—which required a piece of bone to be removed. "A week before she was due to come back in to get ready for the Oakleigh Plate, she was found in her paddock with big swelling between her ears, on the poll," Begg said. "We had to go in and do surgery, and that was her autumn done." Niance still came back in late May—for one race only—and duly added her third stakes win, again at Caulfield in the Bel Esprit Stakes. Begg said the Manikato Stakes (G1) Sept. 26 would be Niance's next target. Beyond that, interest has been expressed in her from a slot holder for The Everest, to be run at Randwick Oct. 18.