Trainer David Vandyke says he made the sensible decision when opting to take the lightly raced mare Philia out of the $2 million Group 1 All-Star Mile to instead tackle the $200,000 Group 3 Matron Stakes on the same card at Flemington on Saturday.
Both races are over 1600m.
Vandyke admitted that the temptation offered by the fact that the All-Star Mile prize-money pays $50,000 for even a sixth, seventh and eighth place finish did warrant consideration and Philia would have gone that way for that guaranteed return if only eight runners accepted … the 2025 edition of the event only had seven runners … but that was not the case with eleven runners coming through the final acceptance stage.
Beating the likes of last year’s All-Star Mile winner Tom Kitten along with numerous other serious contenders who have tasted Group 1 success … or been Group 1 placed … would have been a tough ask for Philia, who has won up to Group 2 company, in the All-Star Mile, and it is thus perfectly understandable why Vandyke would reconsider, reset the target, and go with the, supposedly, easier option of the Matron Stakes.
“We viewed that to be the sensible decision,” stated Vandyke. “She is well … has come on very well from her last start (where she finished sixth in the Tressady Stakes over 1400m).
“We are just hoping the track will not be too hard.”
The positive for Philia is that first-up run, after a seven-and-a-half month layoff, will have brought her on and she will prefer the step up to 1600m from the 1400m trip she tackled last time.
Philia, who will be ridden for the first time by Jamie Mott, is currently a $13 chance in the betting.
The race favourite is the Danny O’Brien trained See What I See, who finished second in the Tressady when beating Philia home by just over four lengths.
