Beaten odds-on favourite Mosheen will still press on to the Group One Australian Guineas despite disappointing connections with her narrow defeat by the improving Shopaholic in The Vanity at Flemington.
The Danny O’Brien-trained Shopaholic ($14), ridden by Dwayne Dunn, made up a couple of lengths on the $1.45 favourite in the last 200m to blouse her by a short half-head.
Shopaholic winning the Vanity at Flemington - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
The Gerald Ryan-trained Angel Of Mercy ($21) was only a short head away third.
Mosheen, who won the VRC Oaks (2500m) by nine lengths last spring and resumed with an easy win over Saturday’s CS Hayes Stakes winner That’s The One in the Manfred Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield early this month, was expected to be too good for her seven rivals.
But after racing off the leader Great Dame, the effort of carrying 3.5kg more than her rivals seemed to take its toll.
“The weight makes a difference but she still should have been able to give those horses that weight,” trainer Robert Smerdon said.
“She had her chance, the better horse beat her on the day. If they meet on level weights it’s a different outcome but I don’t know that they are other than useful fillies – history might prove me wrong.
“Second-up maybe was a glitch and we’re looking to improve off that for sure.
“She’ll still push on to the Guineas, definitely.”
Jockey Danny Nikolic said Mosheen felt a bit flat.
O’Brien’s run of success with New Zealand-bred horses continued when Shopaholic took out the Group Three 1410m event.
The daughter of Pins was facing her toughest test but took her record to four wins and three placings from nine starts.
O’Brien has had great success with Kiwi-bred gallopers headed by Caulfield Cup winner Master O’Reilly and Australian Guineas and Australian Derby winner Shamrocker.
“She is a very nice filly, lightly raced, improving and her win today was very strong,” the Flemington trainer said.
“Mosheen was obviously the testing material in the spring, her and Atlantic Jewel, but our filly is catching up to them now and she is doing a very good job.
“I knew the filly was in great order. She’d had a nice win first-up and she’d come on super and you can’t stay at home because of one horse (Mosheen).
“If anything, she might have been vulnerable second-up.
“We had the advantage of the weights with the 3.5 kilograms Mosheen had to give us and weight can stop trains.
“She is possibly going to back up next Saturday in the Angus Armanasco (Stakes) and go on to the Kewney (Stakes) two weeks after that here (at Flemington).
“I think she’d certainly get to a mile (1600m). Her mother (Splashing Out) won at a mile for us and she was very strong in a pretty tight finish.”
AAP TURF
