Brad Waters – 18 Feb 2016

Call Me Tess will go around at decent odds in Saturday’s Listed Talindert Stakes (1100m) but the John Moloney-trained filly will be out to maintain an unbeaten record in the Flemington event.

Call Me Tess performed well in a jumpout at Caulfield on January 27 before living up to that effort with a strong debut win at Bendigo on February 6 in which her $11 starting price surprised Moloney.

“I didn’t know why she was so big in price,” Moloney said. “Maybe it was because Leotie, who ran alongside her in the trial, ran disappointingly on the Friday night.

“I don’t know whether that was a bit of a reference but we still had a bit up our sleeve in the trial. Leotie started as the favourite on the Friday night and she (Call Me Tess) was out the door in the ring for the Saturday but it didn’t stop her.”

The Bel Esprit filly defeated 10 rivals at Bendigo but is likely to be one of 16 runners in the Talindert Stakes in which she is a $17 chance in the early betting.

Call Me Tess will start the $120,000 contest from barrier 10, which Moloney said would help his nephew, apprentice Patrick Moloney give the two-year-old the perfect run in her first attempt down the Flemington straight.

“As we watch in most straight races these days, they centre up and come down the straight together and with two-year-olds especially, you don’t want to be out there running on your own,” he said.

“Admittedly she raced on her own at Bendigo but you still want them to run with the field and keep together because competition makes them travel and run to the line.”

Moloney said Call Me Tess has worked well twice since her debut win and pleased him with her gallop on Tuesday morning.

Call Me Tess is still among the Blue Diamond Stakes entries but Moloney said he would not consider starting the filly in Saturday week’s event unless she won the Talindert Stakes.