Odeum (Image: Racing Photos)
Star filly Odeum won't be chasing headline races in the autumn as connections eye fame and fortune in Melbourne next spring.
While most autumn contenders are returning to their stables following a spring break, the Thousand Guineas winner and narrow Empire Rose Stakes runner-up against the older mares in the spring remains in the paddock as part of a plan that could take her all the way to 2021 Cox Plate.
Odeum's autumn plan is for the filly to have just four runs, three of which will be in Adelaide and culminating in the Group 1 Schweppes Oaks over 2000 metres.
It may seem an unambitious plan for a filly of her extreme talent, but it is one that her part-owner, bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills, believes should pay off in the long run.
"It's not going to be a glorious prep, but it will be one that sets her up as a four-year-old," Mills said on Monday.
"Our dream, all of us, is to have a Cox Plate runner.
"While not over-taxing her, the beauty of the autumn prep is that we find out if she runs 2000 metres. I'd prefer to find out in the autumn if she runs 2000 metres rather than wait until the spring.
"If she does, we can start dreaming anyway."
Mills said Odeum, who he purchased for $420,000, is enjoying her time in the paddock.
"She looks unbelievable," he said. "I couldn't be happier with her.
"She could have come back in after three weeks as she looks that well and had done that well, but I was just mindful that she did it all in his first prep.
"I don't want to look back on the horse's career and say that we got greedy with her.
"The plan was always to give her six weeks (in the paddock) and give her a light autumn and that's what we are going to do.
"You can think about the (Australian) Guineas but that Melbourne autumn comes up quickly for a horse that's had a spring (campaign). You really don't get long in the paddock if you want to target the race like the Guineas.
"It's a huge leap from three-year-old fillies to open class and as long as I have been following them, there have been any number of great three-year-old fillies that don't measure up in open class as four and five-year-olds.
"She'll have four runs in total. She comes back in on December 15 and then she'll probably be first-up in the Vanity over 1400 metres at Flemington.
"She'll go from the Vanity to the Laelia Stakes over a mile - it's a three-year-old fillies Listed in Adelaide - and then she'll take on the boys in the Port Adelaide Guineas over 1800 metres and then three weeks later into the Group 1 Schweppes Oaks over 2000 metres.
"The good thing about that prep is it obviously gives her four runs and she'll be at set weights in three of those four races and only have to carry a penalty into the Laelia."