Missy Longstocking maintained her unbeaten record and established herself as a leading Magic Millions contender with a dominant Eagle Farm win on Saturday.
Missy Longstocking ($2.30) clocked 57.18 seconds, eclipsing the previous 1000m class record for two-year-old fillies set by Military Rose two years ago before that filly went on to win the Magic Millions.
Trainer Liam Birchley, who paid the meagre sum of $7000 for Missy Longstocking, plans to give the daughter of Sequalo a short break from racing before she has one lead-up before the Magic Millions Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast in January.
Missy Longstocking was an impressive winner at her first start at Toowoomba even though Birchley had some misgivings about her fitness levels.
“Because it was at Toowoomba I thought she might get away with going into the race a bit underdone but she won it quite easily,” Birchley said.
“She took a good step forward from Toowoomba and again today.”
Jockey Damian Browne praised Missy Longstocking’s relaxed nature, which he believes will help her in pressure situations in the future.
“She’s a lovely filly who gets into her gears pretty quickly and there’s still plenty of scope for improvement,” Browne said.
“Liam has her well educated and she’ll derive plenty of benefit from the experience.”
Browne had Missy Longstocking travelling comfortably in the lead and extended her margin in the straight, crossing the line seven lengths clear of Moroccan Rose ($2.15 fav) with One Eat One ($15) another seven lengths away third.
Meanwhile, leading trainer Robert Heathcote praised the work ethic of jockey Ryan Wiggins after Marked ($2.80) won the Open Handicap (2200m) by a short half-head from Bid Spotter ($7).
“That was a fitting reward for effort for Ryan who has been putting in the hard yards at the track each morning,” Heathcote said.
“He’s ridden seven or eight winners for me in the past fortnight which goes to show when you make the effort the rewards will come your way.
“Ryan rode for me a few years ago and although we didn’t have a falling out I felt he wasn’t applying himself as well as he should have been.
“But I can’t give him enough credit for the way he’s knuckled down and had a real dig in recent months.”
