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A strong debut victory by 2YO filly The Closer at Geelong on Sunday gave first season sire Dundeel his fifth winner and another bright prospect for the spring.

In a performance reminiscent of her sire’s storming debut win at Ellerslie six years ago, The Closer circled the field and proved too strong in the 1340m contest for 2YO fillies.

David Eustace, assistant to trainer Ciaron Maher, said The Closer is highly regarded by the stable.

“She’s got a big action and she’s very athletic, but she still has plenty of furnishing to do so we are hopeful she will get over a bit of ground and up in class,” he said.

The Closer is the first winner out of Miss Evasive (Elusive Quality), herself a city winning daughter of dual classic winner Magical Miss.

The filly was a $70,000 purchase for Ciaron Maher and part-owner W. Ballantine from the draft of her breeder Gilgai Farm at the 2017 Melbourne Premier Sale.

Miss Evasive has since delivered two colts by Dundeel’s barn-mate Olympic Glory, the first of which was bought by trainer Paul Perry this year for $140,000.

Dundeel’s other first-crop 2YO winners are G3 winner Irukandji (trained by Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes), Sydney winner Dealmaker (Chris Waller), Cutadeel (Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman) and Atyaab (Mike de Kock in South Africa).

Confidence in Dundeel’s future as a stallion has driven lively bidding for his second-crop yearlings, sold in 2018 for up to $500,000 (Easter), $280,000 (Magic Millions) and $NZ270,000 (NZ Premier).