News

Local News

Sport

General

We're off to Melbourne

KEN WARREN

02 May, 2008 08:58 AM

STAR Taree filly Heavenly Glow will be nominated for the Caulfield Cup next spring after a memorable win in the AJC Australian Oaks at Randwick.

Punters across the Manning cheered in delight this week when the boom three year-old scored a narrow but authoritative victory in the $500,000 classic over 2400 metres.

It was the filly’s second successive Group One win after claiming the Arrowfield Stud Stakes at Rosehill last month and she is the only Taree horse to win at racing’s highest level.

Taree part owners Ross Stitt, David Barber and Bill Rollings were joined trackside by a busload of Manning supporters to watch the filly score by a half-neck after making a winning run wide on the track, with celebrations continuing into the night when the party returned to Taree.

The $300,000 winner’s cheque has taken Heavenly Glow’s earnings to almost $640,000 with eight victories from 15 starts – while her broodmare value could now have reached seven figures.

Stitt had purchased Heavenly Glow for just $10,000 as a yearling and trained the filly in her initial campaigns but transferred her to Sydney’s Allan Denham to target the city classics when she became too classy for Mid North Coast fields.

Connections were supremely confident going into the Oaks, the filly having progressed since her Arrowfield victory.

“I thought she could beat the favourite – she had done too much travelling,’ Stitt said correctly, with Zarita finishing eighth after campaigning at both the Melbourne and Adelaide carnivals.

The race went to plan in the early stages when jockey Robert Thompson – a regular Mid North Coast visitor and long time friend of Stitt – settled the filly one off the fence. But the pair struck some bother in the run, forcing them out three wide.

“He waited before he went for her and that’s what won the race,” Stitt said.

“It wasn’t the best of runs but it was a good ride under the circumstances.”

Stitt said he was always confident of victory despite the Kiwi filly Boundless fighting out the finish over the last 200 metres.

“Once she started to make her run I knew she’d be right in the finish.

“The New Zealand filly fought on well but ours is a tough filly,” he said, adding that the daughter of Spinning World also possessed a powerful turn of foot.

The Oaks rates as clearly the highlight of Stitt’s 43 year career and he now has a perfect Group One record, Heavenly Glow’s two wins his only attempts at that level.

And it needed to be a big occasion to tempt Stitt to a city track, where he hadn’t been for more than 10 years after admitting the big smoke was ‘not his scene.’

“I’m not going to go back again either,” he laughed after spending the day among the large crowd of revellers.

It was a huge day for the local contingent - with the bus not returning to Taree until about 10.30pm – making a late night for a trainer needing an early start for trackwork.

“It was a bit hard to get up and look at these slow ones (in the Taree stable), but we made it,” he laughed.

Heavenly Glow’s winning streak may not yet be over with connections now targeting another fillies classic, the $400,000 Queensland Oaks in Brisbane on May 31.

And next October’s $2.5million Caulfield Cup – also run over 2400 metres - will be the longer term goal, though Stitt doesn’t expect her to line up in the Melbourne Cup.

“I think the Caulfield Cup is the race that would suit her best,” adding that the event was a natural progression for Oaks winners.

Stitt said he was grateful for the efforts of Thompson and Denham, but also acknowledged the support of the Taree community.

“She’s certainly got the town talking – it’s great for country racing.”

Anyone wanting to buy the next Heavenly Glow should note that her half brother – also from Starsphere but by first season sire Not A Single Doubt – will be offered at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast in June. The colt will no doubt prove tempting for the filly’s connections, but it’s a safe bet they won’t get away with a $10,000 price tag this time.