3 minute read
Cambridge trainer Murray Neal says The Filly is a different horse heading into Saturday's Gr.3 Merial Ancare Metric Mile at Awapuni.
The Ishiguru seven-year-old mare was a shadow of her best form with a below-standard 15th in the Gr.1 Makfi Challenge Stakes (1400m) at Hastings last month.
But Neal said there were genuine excuses for her failure that day and with the prospect of a heavy track combined with her featherweight 54kg impost, he expected her to turn that form on its head in Saturday's Marton Jockey Club feature.
"She came into season just prior to the Makfi," Neal said.
"It caught us off guard a bit and she might have held her breath as well. Nothing went right but she's a different horse going into this. She's pretty well and we'll be right in the fight this weekend."
A winner of 10 of her 45 starts for earnings of more than $260,000, The Filly won the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders' Stakes (1400m) at Hawera last season and was promoted to third in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa last month.
That run under weight-for-age conditions is a great recommendation for her chances reverting to handicap company this weekend.
"She's a class above some of these horses and we think she'll get the mile no problems," Neal said.
"She's only had two goes on the track for a win and a placing and a heavy track is right up her alley.
"You can be an inch off your game in Rating 65 grade and still win by a neck but if you're an inch off your game in Group One company, you will only run ninth. We just had a nightmare Makfi day, so we've just put a line through it. She's back to her old self and hopefully that's good enough to see her win this one."
The Filly, who will as usual be ridden by Mark Hills at Awapuni, will head back to Hastings after this weekend to tackle the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) on October 3 before backing up a week later at Hawera to defend her crown in the Taranaki Breeders' Stakes.