Well-related filly Beneath The Rock will be given a chance to work her way through the grades after showing good improvement at her second start to score an all-the-way win at Warwick Farm.
A half-sister to multiple Group winner Invincible Gem, the three-year-old finished third at Scone on debut but relished a 200m distance rise in Wednesday’s Drinkwise Plate (1300m) to show her rivals a clean pair of heels.
Trainer Kris Lees’ stable representative, Danny Greer, expected Beneath The Rock to continue improving and said her performance came as no surprise to the team, which also put the polish on Invincible Gem.
“She pleased us on debut so that indicated an option to come to town. We weren’t surprised at all,” Greer said.
“She showed good gate speed from gate one today. Tyler (Schiller) put her in a really nice position, and she was able to quicken off the mark.
“She is a filly going places, we hope.”
Invincible Gem was a winner up to a mile and Beneath The Rock ($7) is showing signs she will stretch to a similar distance in time, scoring comfortably by two lengths over first starter Claudel ($3.30) with Our Huntress ($2.40 fav) another three-quarters of a length away third.
“I’d like to think so, especially off that run today. She ran through the line quite strongly. She’s got a lot of upside,” Greer said.
Schiller concurred and said the best part of the filly’s race was the end.
“She was powering through the line. It took a bit to pull her up, so she has got plenty in the tank,” Schiller said.
Peter Snowden was also thrilled to get a midweek win on the board with two-year-old Helldeeva after she failed to flatter in two runs over the summer.
The youngster had shown Snowden good ability on the training track, and he was perplexed when she didn’t initially step up on race day.
“We’ve been a little bit disappointed because she has shown us a fair bit at home,” Snowden said.
“Her two races last time in, she drew bad gates and got back and was plain. I thought, she’s better than that. So we tipped her out and she has developed quite a bit.
“It was good to see her do that today because we always thought that type of ability was in her.”
