Homebred fillies register Caulfield stakes race double

Two very talented Emirates Park homebred and raced fillies starred at Caulfield’s Sandown Cup meeting in Melbourne when both Ebhaar and Enthaar scored in coveted stakes races on the major black-type racecard.

Having her first ever start in a race, Ebhaar displayed admirable fighting qualities to claim the $160,000, Listed, Merson Cooper Stakes (1000m) under Damien Oliver for the Peter & Paul Snowden training partnership. Headed at one stage of the straight, the daughter of I Am Invincible fought back strongly over the closing stages to register a valuable black-type success on debut.

When interviewed immediately after the win, veteran jockey Damien Oliver stated: “She’s a very precocious filly. She began awkwardly but showed good speed and then traveled well outside the leader.

“The leader probably wasn’t going quick enough for her on the bend, so she took it up a fair way out. The second horse put a head or a neck on her in the straight, so she did a good job to come back and win nicely.”

Andrew Angelone, Snowden Racing’s  foreman in Melbourne, remarked after the win: “Now that she’s got the win and the prizemoney, Peter and Paul can plan wherever they’d like to go. She might go out for a break [now], we’ll see.”

Significantly, the past two winners of the Merson Cooper Stakes were the top-class Godolphin colts Hanseatic and Anamoe, two of the leading 2-year-olds and most notable Group 1 performers of their respective generation.

A little while later on the same Caulfield program Enthaar proved to be a very good winner of the $160,000, Listed, Premier Signs Doveton Stakes (1000m), running a slashing 56.00s for the journey and going close to breaking the track record. Masterfully handled by Jye McNeil, the 3-year-old’s win was another notable training feat by Ciaron Maher & David Eustace in the filly’s stop-start racing career.

Speaking after Enthaar’s victory, co-trainer Ciaron Maher said: “She’s always been a filly with oodles of ability. She took a while to come to hand. We were half thinking about kicking her off in the Moir at The Valley. She’s a real 1000-metre horse. We waited for her and I thought it was a solid effort first-up after such a long break. Really rapt to come here today.”

Maher added: “I thought Jye rode her really well. She’s not a horse you can ask to go forward and come back. You’ve got to keep her happy and free. Great result.

“Great to get a winner for Emirates Park. They’ve had a pretty good day today and I’m sure they’ll be chuffed. I’ve got a lot of time for this filly.”