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Cambridge trainer Murray Neal is taking a relaxed approach to the future direction he takes with The Filly.
He is now looking to further build on the six-year-old’s record – she has already won nine of her 34 starts - to set up the next phase of the mare’s career.
“She’s ready to go again and I just pick and choose the races these days – she’s not the sort that needs to run every two weeks and I like to keep her fresh,” Neal said.“I reckon she’s got about 18 months left to go and she’s going to be a pretty valuable broodmare.”
The Filly beat I Do and Postmans Daughter last time out in the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes and that’s a form line that points to further success for her in Saturday’s Gr.3 NRM/Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Avondale.“It’s not an overly strong field compared to what she has been meeting,” Neal said. “From a good draw she’ll roll to the front and she will be hard to get past.”
After Saturday’s outing, The Filly is likely to be given a brief let-up and then be readied for a Group One showdown in 2015.“She’ll have a bit of a break to keep her happy and then she’ll be going to the Telegraph Handicap,’ Neal said.
It will be The Filly’s second crack at a top level title following her close seventh – she was three and a-half lengths off the winner Bounding – in the Railway Stakes at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.“I thought about the Railway again, but that’s a different race altogether. Her best distance is 1400 metres and I think the Telegraph will suit her much better,” Neal said.