Iggimacool has become the first mare in more than a decade to win the Listed Winter Championship Series Final at Flemington.
Ridden by Dwayne Dunn, Iggimacool ($6.50) made her winning run down the middle of the track from a midfield position in Saturday’s $150,000 race.
She defeated Petrology by a long neck while leader Onpicalo held on for third, another two lengths away.
The most recent mare to win the Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) was Salsa in 2005.
Iggimacool underwent surgery to remove a bone chip from a fetlock after her last preparation and given the timeframe for her return to training, Smerdon pinpointed the Winter Championship.
“She needed a certain amount of time off (after the surgery) so you’re dictated to by that as to when you can get her back into training,” Smerdon said.
“We looked ahead and said this could be a target race for her. Whether she could win it or not remained to be seen but we set her on a path towards it.
“It took her a couple of runs to find her form after a long time out then she was good when she won here last start.”
That was in a race for mares’ and after that Smerdon pressed on to the Winter Championship Final rather than running in Saturday’s Leilani Series Final for mares.
