Underrated filly Fireburn has flown under the radar for much of the autumn but she has put herself firmly in the frame for the Golden Slipper with an emphatic victory at a muddy Randwick.
The youngster took her record to three wins from four starts with a powerhouse performance in Saturday’s Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes (1200m), ploughing through the heavy 10 conditions to defeat She’s Extreme by three-quarters of a length.
Lady Laguna was a distant third, another 2-3/4 lengths away while Inglis Millennium winner Xtravagant Star failed to handle the track, finishing seventh and almost 10 lengths from the winner.
Trainer Gary Portelli, who also prepared Fireburn’s sire Rebel Dane, already has smart colt Sejardan on a Golden Slipper path and confirmed Fireburn would join him and head straight to the juvenile feature in three weeks.
He believes the filly is improving with every start and if the track is rain-affected on Slipper day, she has now ticked that box.
“She has come from being beaten at Warwick Farm to winning a Saturday, another Saturday and now a Group race. Phenomenal,” Portelli said.
“Thanks very much to (managing owner) Louis Mihalyka for the opportunity to train this filly by the stallion that means so much to me.
“We had so much fun with Rebel Dane and I reckon this filly, she is well on her way to some big things.”
The colts and geldings got their opportunity in the Skyline Stakes (1200m) and it was Newcastle juvenile Promitto who prevailed.
A maiden winner on his home track earlier this month, Promitto ($14) coped best with the testing conditions, upstaging his more fancied rivals to score by two lengths over Rise Of The Masses ($9.50) with Queenslander Jemeldi ($7) another three-quarters of a length away.
Promitto is raced by owner-breeder Matthew Chidgey, who was involved with the colt’s grand dam Air She Goes, a dual Listed winner during the early 2000s.
He said trainer David Atkins was confident the colt would run well but was unsure of plans with the youngster not among Golden Slipper nominations.
“We will worry about a drink tonight and we will leave that to Dave,” Chidgey said.
“It’s just good to win a race anywhere, it’s hard to win a race anywhere.
“Dave was confident that he would handle the conditions and he was reasonably confident that he would run well.”
Fireburn firmed to $15 for the 2022 Golden Slipper while Promitto is now a $34 chance, although connections will have to pay the late entry fee to run.
