John Thompson knows the type of filly it takes to win the Woodlands Stakes having captured it four years ago with Xtremetime and the Randwick trainer believes Vingt Neuf Noir is in a similar mould.
French for ‘twenty-nine black’, Vingt Neuf Noir will resume in Saturday’s 1100m Scone feature, a race with a distinguished honour roll boasting subsequent Group 1 winner In Secret (2022) and stakes performers including Flippant (2015), Libertini (2019) and Lazzura (2024).
Xtremetime was successful in 2021 when the Woodlands Stakes (1100m) was held at Rosehill due to Covid-related lockdowns but was sadly fatally injured during a race fall just a handful of months later.
At the time, Thompson considered Xtremetime a highly promising filly and says Vingt Neuf Noir, who made late ground to finish midfield in the Inglis Nursery (1000m) won by Within The Law at her only start, is also blessed with talent.
“This filly is a similar sort of filly,” Thompson said.
“She was thrown in the deep end (in the Inglis Nursery) but she had shown she went well at home and if that race hadn’t been there, I probably wouldn’t have run her. I would have just put her away.
“But we gave her a go, she was raw and green and she has come on from that. Her race smarts have improved and she will run well.
“She’s a very straightforward filly and she has got an exciting future.”
Thompson will also saddle up Clear Proof in the Lion Benchmark 72 Handicap (1300m) after he was a late scratching for a scheduled Warwick Farm assignment when he played up in the gates.
A stunning winner on debut last winter, Clear Proof was then stakes placed in The Rosebud (1100m) before his form fell away and he was gelded.
While he is yet to recapture his early-career form in two recent runs, Thompson believes he is slowly turning the corner.
“I thought he was a good chance at Warwick Farm the other day and he reared in the gates and got his leg over,” he said.
“He has got ability this horse. He just needs a bit of racing and time and it will start to come out now that he has been gelded.”
