Trainer Dan Pearce reckons Keeper Quiet has improved enough from her first-up run to be a legitimate contender in the $200,000 Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday.

Pearce, who is on a high with boom sprinter Travinator, said Keeper Quiet was in need of a run when unplaced behind Antique Belle in the Burgess Queen Stakes (1400m) a fortnight ago.

Keeper Quiet (Scandal Keeper) faded to be beaten five lengths after racing on the speed.  She was starting first up in the Burgess Queen after a virus interrupted the start of her campaign.

Pearce said Keeper Quiet pulled up “pretty big” after the run but has since improved in leaps and bounds.  “The run wasn’t too bad,” he told WA Newspapers journalist Jay Rooney.  “I struggled to get the miles into her for a 1400m race first-up at that level and she would have taken a lot from it.

“She was probably ridden closer to them than I liked but I did tell Clint (Harvey) to get to wherever she was comfortable.  I think she will run a much better race.”

Keeper Quiet showed her class when she ran a close-up second to Luke’s Luck in the Karrakatta Plate (1200m) and WA Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) last autumn.  “The way she got home in those races, you would think she would run 1600m,” Pearce said.  “We will ride her a bit quieter this time.

Secret Scandal, another filly by Yarradale Stud sire Scandal Keeper, is rated a strong chance by her trainer Dan Morton after five consecutive placings. She was brave when jumping from a wide gate and finishing a long neck third to Miss Solis in the Belgravia Stakes before her last-start second in the Burgess Queen.

“She’s been fantastically consistent and is just a tough filly,” Morton said.  “I’m looking forward to the mile with her.  It’s important to get a good gate and drawing barrier four is an advantage.

KEEPER QUIET
Dan Pearce takes the Scandal Keeper filly for a swim at Kwinana Beach

Photo / Michael O’Brien – WA Newspapers