Refreshed Rapbidash returns with Barn Dance the target

Trainer Lyle Chandler was spoilt for choice when it came to deciding which race Country Championships Final placegetter Rapbidash would make her spring return in at Kensington on Wednesday.

After accepting in three races, and with next month’s $300,000 Barn Dance as her immediate target, Chandler said the Maurice At Arrowfield Handicap (1300m) gives her the best chance to make a positive start.

Chandler said the five-year-old, who ran third behind Kosciuszko runners Asgarda and Gallant Star in the Country Championships, will appreciate the smaller field which is something she’s rarely seen racing in Highways and feature country races.

“It’s a lesser grade, a 72 rather than a 78, and with the apprentice claim she comes in well,” Chandler said.

“I thought she’s tackling a field that has potentially a more middle-distance type horse rather than rock-hard sprinters.

“She gets back a bit so she’s prone to getting in the thick of it.

“Every run she’s had recently has been messy, she’s been bumped or had bad tracks, I just want her to have a bit of confidence and keep her out of trouble and find the line.

“I said to Mitch [Stapleford] I want her to have a nice run and if that means she wins that’d be great.”

Rapbidash followed her Country Championships placing with a fourth under a big weight in a TAB Highway on a heavy track and Chandler said those successive heavy track runs took it out of her and meant she needed a good break.