Vein Girl has put herself in contention for next month’s $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic with a strong win on debut under lights at the Gold Coast’s first night meeting.
The Chris and Corey Munce-trained Vein Girl was sent out the $3.50 favourite with betting sites in Friday night’s $250,000 Magic Millions The Debut (1000m) for two-year-olds and the filly by Blue Point quickly mustered speed to find the rail on the pace before kicking clear early in the home straight.
With jockey Cejay Graham in the saddle, Vein Girl opened up a lead of a couple of lengths in the straight and was strong enough late to defeat the closing Torque To Be Sure ($8) by a short neck.
Forgotten Spirit ($16) was another 1-1/2 lengths away third.
Bought for $60,000 as a yearling, Vein Girl had won two barrier trials leading into her first start and Corey Munce was thrilled with the filly’s debut performance.
“She’s a lovely filly,” Corey Munce said.
“She didn’t cost much at the sales and she’s picked up a nice prize tonight.”
Munce said they knew they had a smart filly on their hands and he indicated Vein Girl would likely now go straight into the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) on January 11 at the Gold Coast without another start.
“And she’s only going to improve,” he said.
“She’s extremely professional, and she was assisted by a nice draw and a good ride by Cejay.
“She had to absorb a little bit of pressure early on, but credit to the filly. Finding the fence tonight was the key, and now we’re looking forward to coming back here in a few weeks.”
Vein Girl is raced by an all-female group of owners so the filly is also eligible for a lucrative bonus on offer in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic.
Graham said she was grateful for the opportunity to partner Vein Girl in Friday’s night’s race.
“We had a good opinion of the filly prior to coming here tonight,” Graham said.
“But she still had to step out and do everything right, which she did.”
While Vein Girl won from the front on debut, Graham insists the filly is not going to be one-dimensional in having to lead heading towards the Magic Millions.
In the night’s other feature, the Tony and Calvin McEvoy-trained three-year-old filly Arabian Summer showed she was on target for the Magic Millions Sunlight (1100m) slot race on January 4 with an impressive three-length win first-up in the GC1000 3YO Plate (1000m).
