Peter Snowden says promising mare Tashi is due for some luck in Group 1 Tatt's Tiara at Eagle Farm
The five-year-old mare has been agonisingly close to victories in her last three races, with the widest margin in those runner-up finishes being just half a length.
Tashi goes into the $700,000 Tatt's Tiara (1400m) for fillies and mares as a $7.50 chance behind only the Chris Waller -trained Firestorm ($4.20) and Floozie ($4.40), who has won four straight races.
'She's been unlucky all right,' Snowden said about the daughter of Sebring.
'She's been racing really well but three times she's been beaten by a short half-head.
'It's been horrendous. She has been up for a really long time but I can't see any signs in her that she's had enough or she's tired.
'Her work has been great during the week and she looks in good order so hopefully there's one more peak performance in her.
'I'd love to see her win the Tatt's Tiara, that'd be fantastic.'
Tashi has been remarkably consistent lately but the stats sheet still reads zero wins since she saluted in a Benchmark 88 (1200m) at Randwick in early March last year.
Since that victory, she has finished runner-up five times from 12 races, including the last three.
Another photo in the Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes at Eagle Farm with Zaszou getting there by a whisker! ðŸ'¸ @pstokesracing @Brown_ethan8 @BrisRacingClub pic.twitter.com/wLztpOM0U9
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 7, 2025
The mare has gone close in last month's Group 3 Hawkesbury Crown (1300m) won by City Of Lights, the Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm claimed by Zaszou and the Group 2 Dane Ripper Stakes (1300m) two weeks ago when she charged home to almost beat Floozie.
To compound Snowden's bad fortune this Queensland Winter Carnival, the appropriately named Need Some Luck narrowly missed out in the Listed Hinkler Handicap (1200m) at Eagle Farm and Media World was beaten by less than a quarter of a length in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m) at Doomben.
'We're hitting the crossbar all the time so we're due to get one between the posts,' he said.
Meanwhile, punters have loaded up on the Kris Lees-trained Infancy, who has shortened this week from $35 to $19 in betting markets for the Tatt's Tiara, the final Group 1 of this season.
The four-year-old mare has drawn the carpark with barrier 21 but Lees said it was 'not a big concern' for the backmarker.
'She gets back anyway and she's probably a better horse when she gets to the outside,' he said.
'I'd prefer a better gate but it's far from the end of the world.
'Floozie's the one to beat. She's a mare in form and you have to respect that but it's a typical mares' race – there's a stack of chances and she's one of them.'
However, Infancy must pass a race-day vet check to take her place in the Group 1 after showing signs of lameness on Friday.
Infancy won the Group 2 Sapphires Stakes (1200m) first-up at Randwick in April at odds of $21, beating star sprinters Commemorative and Lady Laguna.
She then finished fifth in her next two 1200m races – on a bottomless track in the Listed ATC Trophy on the Gold Coast last month and in the Helen Coughlan Stakes three weeks ago when she couldn't find much room.
Fairytale mare Adiella, trained by Toowoomba hobby trainer John Dann, will not take her place in the Group 1 Tatt's Tiara.
Dann said the mare, who won a $500,000 race last start and was a $21 chance in the Tatt's Tiara, had banged her back leg and would be sent for a spell.
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