Apex Predator, the two-year-old chestnut filly who caught the eye when making it two wins from two starts at Doomben on Saturday, will now go for a spell with trainer Matthew Hoysted buoyed by her prospects.
“She is a really progressive filly who has shown us very nice ability. She has just been temperamental … she could always be a little bit buzzy early on, so we obviously waited until the end of her two-year-old season before getting her to the races,” said Hoysted, explaining the daughter of Tiger Of Malay’s relatively late appearance on the scene.
“I still feel she’s doing it all on natural ability. She’ll go for a spell now and, with this prep under her belt, I think she should really go on with the job next time in … and, once the penny fully drops, you’ll see a better version again.”
Both of Apex Predator’s wins have come by relatively narrow margins … by 0.51 lengths on her debut in a QTIS Two-Year-Old Fillies Maiden Plate over 1200m and by 0.81 lengths in a QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap over 1350m, but the will to win was there, always a great plus for a young racehorse still learning her craft.
“We saw, even in her first win, that when they come at her, she goes again,” said Hoysted. “I think if she would have been challenged more seriously (on Saturday), there was probably more there.
“She is very tenacious. She has got a very good turn of foot. I think there are more dimensions to her … and that will come with experience.”
At $35,000, Apex Predator is already a bargain buy, having banked $123,300 from just two starts … she already claimed her purchase price back with the win she scored on debut.
“Yeah, she’s already proved to be a complete bargain … and obviously her wins and her prize-money return is also a great endorsement for the QTIS scheme … being a QTIS filly and winning that extra bonus money.”
Apex Predator’s sire Tiger Of Malay only raced twelve times but scored feature race successes in two of his three career victories … winning both the Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes and the Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes.
Adding huge value to Apex Predator’s pedigree is the fact that Tiger Of Malay was sired by the top stallion Extreme Choice … who has the distinction of having sired both a Golden Slipper winner (Stay Inside) and a Melbourne Cup winner (Knight’s Choice).
So, on both exposed talent and performance … as well as a background check … it appears that Apex Predator is well placed to make her mark moving forward.
Like all two-year-olds, she still has a way to go and a lot to learn, but, after benefitting from the patience the Hoysted stable showed in allowing her time before giving Apex Predator the green light to tackle race action, the bottom line is she could not have started her career any better than she has done.
