Kris Lees remains committed to giving Randwick winner Cantiamo another shot at stakes company, but he may be forced to reassess when and where that happens.
Lees did have his sights on the Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes (1100m) at Scone next month but the nature of the filly’s victory in Saturday’s The Third Australian General Hospital Handicap has given him pause for thought.
Cantiamo was strung up behind runners for most of the straight, only seeing clear air with 100m to go and needing every inch of the 1200 metres to dive through a late gap under Jason Collett and score.
“It’s good to get a Saturday win with her. She’s a really nice filly,” Lees said.
“It was a good win. I didn’t think she was going to win at the furlong (200m), but she got a lovely run through from Jason and she got there on the line.
“Going into the race, we were thinking of going back to 1100 for the Denise’s Joy, so we’ll just have to have a chat to Jase and see which path we take.
“She is certainly up to stakes company. We’ll see when we get there.”
Cantiamo has now won four of her eight starts and was competitive in the Group 3 P J Bell Stakes (1200m) at her previous appearance when beaten just two lengths by Plaintiff.
Collett said Saturday’s race didn’t quite go to plan when his filly wasn’t the best to begin but the fact she was able to overcome it suggested she was above average.
“I just needed a bit of luck. Jellicious didn’t take me as far as I needed, and thankfully a split opened up at the furlong marker,” Collett said.
“She settled better today. She was very keen last start, but today she was more even, which I think is a sign she could get a bit further.
“She was good late. She needed to quicken and do it in a short amount of time, and it was a good effort.”
Cantiamo ($2.70 fav) arrived just in time to score by a head over Ernaux ($10) with Spice Baby ($6) fighting on doggedly to hold third, another short head away.
