3 minute read
A week can be a long time in racing as trainer Murray Neal found out when his pride and joy The Filly turned around an indifferent run seven days earlier to score decisively at Ellerslie on Saturday.
Neal was confident of a winning run after admitting he had got it wrong leading in to her race at the same venue the week prior.
“She had a tough run at Rotorua when she finished third in the Listed sprint there so I took it a little easy on her afterwards,” he explained.“She freshened up nicely however as it turned out that Ellerslie track a week ago was very testing and she wasn’t quite ready to cope with it.
“That run brought her on nicely though and I was fairly certain we would see a different horse this week who would show them just how good she is.”Neal has an ambitious programme mapped out for the now ten race winner as he looks to add further black type to her career record.
“I will take her to Tauranga next where there is a Listed race for the fillies and mares and then I will set her for the Opunake Cup at New Plymouth,” he said.“She can have a quick break and then she will go to the Foxbridge Plate and then the first day of the Hawkes Bay Carnival for the Gr. 1 Makfi Stakes.”
The Filly finished third in the Gr. 3 Foxbridge Plate in 2014 before claiming her maiden stakes victory in the Gr. 3 Taranaki Breeders Stakes in October.