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As Angela Davies mulls over her next step with stable star Our Kobison, the Gosford trainer is hoping recent addition Denman Star can notch a hat-trick at Canterbury on Wednesday.
The four-year-old had 11 starts for Ciaron Maher for the one win prior to joining Angela Davies and she said it might be that it was all happening a bit quickly for him.
But time has been on his side and successive Newcastle wins, with some authority, have earned the gelding another chance in town in the Hyland Race Colours Handicap (1250m).
"Hasn't he turned around,'' Davies said.
"When I got him I had a look at him and thought he had to go to the paddock, he was light so we put him out and got some weight on him.
"I'd say he was a bit immature and just wasn't coping with it all. He's ended up a really nice horse and he's won well in both starts."
Denman Star, $8.50 with TAB on Tuesday, posted his maiden win at Goulburn last July at his eighth race start but changed camps after failing to place in three runs through the summer.
He made his debut for Davies with a Class 1 win on July 16, sitting just off the pace, then repeated the dose in a Benchmark 64 three weeks later.
A feature of that win was the turn of foot he showed as he sprinted down the middle of the track from near the tail to win by almost a length.
He'll have to carry 59kg in his first metropolitan start since his first preparation for Maher but Davies feels he's simply a changed horse.
"I don't know whether he was being ridden a bit upside down but he seems to really like flopping around out the back and getting home,'' she said.
"If you go back to his first-up run he put them away, then he showed that good turn of foot off getting back and letting him smoke his pipe.
"Three weeks between runs seems to work for him so let's cross our fingers, it'd be lovely to go to town and win one there."
As for Our Kobison, Davies was rapt with his effort to sit on the speed and hold second behind Joliestar in the Group 3 Show County Quality (1200m) at Randwick last Saturday.
It sent his rating to 96 and given Davies plenty to think about.
She said it's more than likely the five-year-old will be given a short freshen up, which means he'll miss the bulk of the spring, potentially returning in a race like the $300,000 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange and chasing the summer Listed sprints.
"It's probably the smart thing to do,'' she said.
"I think we could set him up to win a couple of nice races whereas I could see him going to The Shorts and finishing a nice fifth."
