Coffs Harbour previews: Trainer Donna Grisedale focuses on mental mastery with Piedi Veloci for racing success
His name translates as 'fast feet' but right now it's Piedi Veloci's brain that trainer Donna Grisedale is working hardest on.
A three-year-old son of Widden Stud's flying machine, Supido, Grisedale 's gelding left an immediate and lasting impression when winning a barrier trial at home at Coffs Harbour in the middle of September last year.
Piedi Veloci has raced three times since, and while unplaced at each of them, there was merit in all, albeit hidden from those outside his orbit.
'He's getting there,' Grisedale said.
'He is a massive work in progress this horse. Mentally not there yet, or physically, but plenty of ability.
Success at @InverellRaces1 to Four Degrees who breaks his madien at start number 3! ðŸ'� pic.twitter.com/XsRcUanQjZ
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 23, 2025
The Form: Complete NSW Racing thoroughbred form, including video replays and all you need to know about every horse, jockey and trainer. Find a winner here!
'He's just got to put it all together still. He did a few things wrong there at Grafton but ran home nicely.
'Once he gets balanced and in a straight line, he just goes, but you can't be slow away and give them that much start like he did.'
Piedi Veloci's assignment this week is the Northern Beaches Blues AFL Country Boosted Maiden Handicap over 1205m.
'Ideally, the 1400m would have been better suited to him, however, here at Coffs Harbour on the Heavy 9 or Heavy 10, I thought the 1200m would pull him up and test him out a bit so I'll stick to the 1200m,' Grisedale explained.
Grisedale, meanwhile, is taking both a quantity and quality approach to the feature race, the Woolgoogla Diggers Cup Benchmark 82 Handicap (1305m) where he saddles-up lively trio Bow, Ostracised and Mallee Boy Express.
'Bow doesn't really appreciate the Heavy going, Soft is fine, Heavy is not really ideal for him but he's not a very good traveller so for me to just take him over the road here is an opportunity too good to knock back,' Grisedale said.
This will be the second time in the space of eight days that sees stablemates Ostracised and Stage Hit descendant Mallee Boy Express square off on race day.
Last Thursday at Ballina, Mallee Boy Express edged out his more fancied stable companion to win an uncommonly strong Benchmark 58 Handicap.
🚂 A tight finish at Ballina sees Mallee Boy Express get home! pic.twitter.com/ha29FH7Wp4
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 12, 2025
'Mallee Boy Express is a hard one to get a gauge on,' Grisesdale said. 'His form is up and down a lot but he just relished that Heavy track. I don't normally back any of my horses up that quickly but how could I knock it back.
'They're going to get the Heavy track again.
'And especially Ostracised, he's coming right down from 62kg down to 55kg, so that will bring him right into contention.
'It is definitely a stronger grade race, that's why we've got the 55 kilos, but hometrack, Heavy track, there are a few ticks.'
Ostracised has covered more ground and had more change of address than most horses.
Born at Rothwell Park in Scone, Ostracised was originally housed at Team Hawkes' Victorian lodgings.
After that he went to Kody Nestor at Dubbo, Cody Morgan at Tamworth, Bjorn Baker in Sydney and now north to Grisedale's headquarters at Coffs Harbour.
'When I saw Cody Morgan at Inverell, he said this horse was a Kosciuszko horse and a Championships horse on a Heavy track,' the trainer revealed.
Grisedale has 'multiple runners' in the last of the eight races on her hometown card with Speedy Target and Another Balconyboy engaged.
Both are owned by former trainers with Another Balconyboy racing in Jim Jarvis' hot pink colours while Speedy Target sports the colours made internationally famous by Joe Janiak's four-legged fairytale, Takeover Target.
â– â– â– â– â–
Blame me, not the horse.
So said trainer Todd Payne in the wake of Desert Cougar 's disappointing performance at Grafton 11 days ago.
The Coffs Harbour bound chestnut's fading ninth (of 12) came 20 days after she shed her maiden status in the most emphatic fashion at Tamworth with Luke Rolls in the saddle each time.
'Definitely excuses,' Payne said.
'It was trainer error. Luke came out of the jockeys room and said we might snag her back to last and get a run up the fence and I said no, no, jump her out and push her forward and try and see if you can get the one-one.
'Silly me, in hindsight it was the wrong thing to do. It was all on me. Anyway, I'll cop that on the chin.
'She's drawn a bit wide there again but Luke will know exactly what to do and I won't give him instructions like I did last week, because they just did not work.
'It is the right sort of race for her.'
Desert Cougar is the third foal of her six-time winning dam, Kalahari Princess.
A granddaughter of Lion Hunter, Kalahari Princess's second foal is Payne's stable captain, Lisztomania whose second-place in this year's Country Championships Final all but guarantees him a spot in the Kosciuszko at Randwick this October.
Payne, meanwhile, will make the 600km round trip from Inverell to Coffs Harbour with the former Newcastle housed gelding, Soobooco, as a partner for Desert Cougar.
First sold for $100,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale in 2021, the grandson of Snitzel next appeared at the Inglis April Online Sale in 2024 when knocked down for $9,000.
The son of the now Indonesian-based stallion Sooboog, Soobooco's Payne stable debut was underwhelming to say the least, clocking in last at Tamworth on May 20.
Soobooco improved dramatically when he resurfaced at Grafton 18 days later when runner-up in a Class 3 over 1120m.
'He's just an older type of horse with a few little issues,' Payne explained.
'I think he likes the wet.
'I thought he went a lot better the other day at Grafton. He just didn't show that zip that I thought he would so we have gone back to a 1000m which is his preferred distance and Luke suggested to put shades on too so we put a set of visors on him this week.
'I'm happy with him going into this, that's for sure.'
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