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Jake Stephens is hoping to put some Group 2 on the pedigree page of promising mare En Francais in Friday night’s Group 2 Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Moonee Valley.
The daughter of Puissance De Lune comes off a game effort beating home all but Beltoro in the Listed C S Hayes Stakes at Morphettville on Adelaide Cup Day.
Jake Stephens has always had the Sunline Stakes in mind for En Francais knowing the trip away will only help furnish the five-year-old who has never been out of the placings in her 10 starts.
"I wanted to go to this race no matter how she ran last time, I've been wanting to give her a decent trip away,'' Stephens said.
"Obviously we've always had ambitions to get to black type races with her and things didn't all go to plan last start.
"The run was very good all things being equal, her sectionals and given she wasn't fully wound up and I think there is still a fair bit of improvement in her,'' he said.
Confident she will acquit herself well against a handful of in-form Victorian mares, Stephens said he's keen to see what En Francais can do in similar grade over further in time.
"I want to get her to 1800m, I think she'll come into her own,'' Stephens said.
"When you get out over further you lose a lot of the milers and I think that's where she can be most effective.
"This is going to be an interesting race. She's versatile, it will be interesting to see how to the track races and how it pans out tactically.
"If she's improving at the rate we think she is, she'll be right in the mix,'' he said.
The Melbourne trip will determine how far En Francais goes this campaign with a host of mares options available during the Adelaide Racing Carnival.
"We'll see how she does here,'' Stephens said.
"She's been in for a while, so we'll just wait and see how she comes through the trip away before making any decisions,'' he said.
Lachie Neindorf heads to Melbourne with the mare who is marked an $11 chance with tab.com.au while fellow Adelaide rider Gary Lo also return to Moonee Valley to partner Our Heidi for the Phillip Stokes stable earlier in the night.
Gawler trainer Darren McLeod is also Valley bound with East Indiaman in the opening race with Campbell Rawiller booked to ride.
