O’Shea backing lightly raced duo to shine at feature Newcastle meeting

Randwick horseman John O’Shea is confident he can snare a winning double at Newcastle on Thursday when the lightly raced pair of Condrieu and Orzala line up in their respective races.

Condrieu, a lightly raced six-year-old that sports the colours of O’Shea’s stable star Lost And Running, will contest the Australian Bloodstock Class 1 & Maiden Plate (1850m) with Alysha Collett taking the ride.

“She’s only had the eight starts in her career, but she’s a progressive type of horse that is still on the way up,” O’Shea said of Condrieu.

“She’s won the one race and had a couple of placings and now that she’s had a couple of runs back from a spell, I’d say she is just about to show her best form at Newcastle.

“The first-up fourth at Newcastle over the mile was a solid effort, and she backed that up with another fourth at Kembla Grange.

“The step up to the 1850m looks made to order and Alysha Collett does a good job riding for us, so she ticks all the boxes. She’ll be right in the finish, and hopefully, she can go on with the job after she gets through this.”

O’Shea is hoping four-year-old mare Orzala can also run well when she resumes from a spell in the Prince Of Merewether Hotel Benchmark 64 Handicap (1200m).

Orzala only had three starts in her three-year-old season, scoring in a Newcastle maiden between two city runs.