It will be a big occasion for the connections of Filthy Habits … in more ways than one … when the I’m All The Talk gelding takes aim at the $1 million Group 2 Perth Cup at Ascot on Thursday.
The team already have a piece of Perth Cup history behind their name … with jockey Lucy Fiore, who will ride Filthy Habits, having saluted in the 2018 Perth Cup aboard Material Man, a horse trained by her father Justin Warwick, who is a part-owner of Filthy Habits.
Material Man’s victory was the first to be achieved by a father / daughter … trainer / jockey … combination, and it gave Warwick a second Perth Cup success after his win in 2014 with Black Tycoon, who was ridden by Damien Oliver. In the process Fiore became the second female jockey after Kyra Yuill (who took out the race in 2011 aboard Western Jewel) to win the Perth Cup.
So, there is a lot of history associated with the Perth Cup in the family, and Filthy Habits will be part of the push to expand that family record and kick off the New year with a special win.
Enter Brandon Fiore, Lucy Fiore’s husband, who took over the training of Filthy Habits back in December 2023 after the now six-year-old had already had twelve starts.
Since then, Filthy Habits twenty-eight starts for Fiore have produced seven wins, six runner-up finishes and five third placings … with a winning record that stretches over distances ranging from 1300m to 2200m on good, soft and heavy going.
Also in the credit column is the fact that Filthy Habits has shown progressive improvement in his four starts this preparation since resuming from a six month break away from racing … trending positively from being beaten by 3.30 lengths by Captain Pluto in the Listed Lucky Grey over 1800m first-up … to being beaten 1.96 lengths by Simply in the A J Scahill over 2100m … to being beaten by 0.92 lengths by Buckets Ridge in the Listed Towton Cup over 2200m … to finishing an eye-catching second last time out, only 0.21 lengths behind Playhouse Patron in the Listed A T A Stakes over 2200m.
That is a pretty neat and efficient buildup for the big race from a horse that put back-to-back wins together in the Albany Cup and the Josh Rogan, both over 2100m, at the end of his last preparation.
Bandon Fiore has said the Albany Cup win has been the highlight of his training career so far.
The tilt at the Perth Cup will take everything to another level for the trainer … where a win would put an exclamation mark on a sublime achievement for the family and etch their names deeper into the record books of Western Australia’s much coveted staying race.
