Our correspondent John McD reports!Just to let you know Dutchess went to the workouts at Motukarara on Saturday and while she ran second in a two horse heat went much better than her finishing position would indicate. Murray has her looking terrific, and warmed her up with 6 or 7 pacers in the previous heat - she was very relaxed and quite at home on the track, and never turned a hair !! In her heat she trotted all the way in the trail, and while she did not pass the horse in front Murray had a non removable hood with earplugs on her which made her so relaxed. He was absolutely delighted with her, and said not to worry about her lack of speed over the final stages, it is merely hidden short term !!. The plan is another two or three runs at the workouts and then the qualifying trials in a month or so - so at this stage she is doing absolutely everything right and her attitude is really good, so lets hope she continues to improve as I am confident she will. She certainly looks the part.
