When Miss Chanel kicked off her career in January, Adrian Bott never expected her to still be up and running on the final day of the Sydney autumn carnival.
Fully prepared to send her to the spelling paddock after every run, Bott says the filly has given connections little choice but to continue with her preparation, continually being competitive and posting a personal best Group 1 placing in the Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) last start.
On Saturday, she will contest the Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Randwick, striving to become the seventh filly in the past 20 years to upstage the colts and geldings, and the first since She’s Extreme in 2022.
“This is her seventh run, which is a little bit unorthodox,” Bott said.
“I can’t say it’s by design.
“She has been remarkably consistent, but each time I’ve thought it’s possibly our last run for the preparation, she seems to have put in another improved run again and done well off the back of it.
“I am mindful that at some point, she is going to have that run that says she has come to the end of her campaign, and it’s not going to be a surprise when she does.
“But off the back of what we’ve seen, she hasn’t given us any indication in her work. Her weight is great, appetite good, she’s bright in herself and a mile should really suit.”
Miss Chanel hasn’t been the only busy campaigner in the Champagne Stakes field.
Godolphin colt Zambales is also racing for the seventh time, while Fireball, Diameter and Persian Wonder will all be having their sixth runs.
While Miss Chanel settled towards the rear in the Sires’ Produce and powered home, Bott expected her to revert to her usual pattern on Saturday and be much handier to the speed from a wide gate.
“From the draw, we’re probably going to have to be a bit more positive,” he said.
“Naturally, we think we can be stepping up to a mile, and she has sat on pace in some faster races over 1100 and 1200 earlier in the prep, so she does have tactical speed.”
Bott’s training partner Gai Waterhouse has won the Champagne Stakes five times, most recently with Pierro in 2012, although the pair is yet to claim the feature as a partnership.
The bulk of their juveniles in recent seasons have either been purely sprinters, or targeted at Golden Slipper campaigns, with Miss Chanel a $5.50 chance to break their duck this weekend.
