| Montefilia made it two Group Ones in a week when she finished strongly to beat the boys in the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick this afternoon. |
The new star filly of Australia, prepared by master horseman David Payne, was sent out the favourite in the Sydney feature following her impressive win in last Saturday’s Flight Stakes. It was history in the making with Montefilia becoming the first horse to complete the Flight Stakes and Spring Champion Stakes double. In the Flight she was ridden to victory by Hugh Bowman, but with Winx’s regular rider heading to Melbourne for the Guineas meeting at Caulfield it was a lovely pick up ride for Jason Collett. “She’s good,” Payne stated. “And I think she’ll even be better next year. If you look at her she is quite a lean filly.” “She was a little held up for a while, but thank god it worked out all right in the end. I was always worried about the draw.” The bonny filly could be given her chance to win a third Group One in her spring campaign with a trip south to Melbourne’s famous Flemington carnival a distinct possibility. “I’ll have a look at the race (the VRC Oaks) in Melbourne now. She’s only had the seven starts so we will see how she is in a couple of days.” “We’d be back to taking on the fillies and I think she’ll even be better over 2.5 (2500m),” Payne added. Payne went to $130,000 to secure the star filly from the Tyreel Stud draft at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. “She is a star,” a delighted Collett said. “Credit to David Payne and his team to get her here in top shape.” “I galloped her on Thursday morning and I left the track feeling pretty excited,” Collett added. Montefilia’s sire Kermadec, who was trained by Chris Waller, won four races during his career – three at group level headlined with victories in the Doncaster Handicap and George Main Stakes. The multiple Group One winning filly is a member of Kermadec’s first crop. Her dam Bana Wu was an international winner and earned black type three times in the UK. She was also fourth in a Group Two and Group Three. Bana Wu is the dam of four named foals, all have raced and three are already winners. Montefilia is her star performer to date. Winner: Montefilia Breeding: Kermadec-Bana Wu (Shirocco) Race: ATC Spring Champion Stakes G1 (2000m) Sold for: $130,000 Sale: 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Tyreel Stud Buyer: Payne Racing Earnings: $1,005,925 Owner(s): Ms CL Vincent, Ms K Docherty & Mrs LB Paligorov Trainer: David Payne (Rosehill) |
