Godolphin has rolled another promising juvenile with Couvre Lit making an impressive start to her racing career at Warwick Farm.
The Bernadini filly was expertly nursed her through her debut by Glyn Schofield in the TAB.com.au Plate (1200m) to allay fears she might over-race.
“She was a little between a rock and a hard place coming into a 1200 first-up because she can be a little bit firey,” Godolphin head trainer James Cummings said.
“Glyn did a great job there in just bluffing the others to allow him to cross and keep her as settled as he could.”
Schofield reined in the two-year-old’s aggressive tendencies after guiding her into the ideal position from barrier five before Couvre Lit ($4.40) finished off with a flourish to beat Adana ($6.50) by three-quarters of a length.
Dio D’oro, the $3.50 favourite was a short neck back in third.
Cummings said black-type beckoned for the filly, though he stopped short of rating her on a par with unbeaten stablemate Gongs, a $15 chance in Golden Slipper betting.
“I don’t think she’s at that level, she’s not quite as smart as that but she’s going places. She probably has to jump into the deep end now.”
Cummings admitted staff had to work to temper her assertive streak but her stamina outweighed that precociousness.
“We’re working to get her to unwind. Give me a horse that’s got an engine any day, we’ll work those other kinks out in time,” he said.
In the other maiden on Wednesday’s program, Decroux got off the mark at the second attempt in the Casino Prince @Vinery Handicap (1200m) for co-trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
The three-year-old gelding led throughout under Tim Clark as Bott’s plans for the $2.90 favourite were executed to perfection.
“We wanted to control the race because we’re mindful he’s not a real 1200 horse,” Bott said.
“Tim let him build into it beautifully and he was strong late through the line.”
New South Wales premiership-leading jockey Brenton Avdulla brought up his century of statewide wins this season when he saluted on Mazaz in the Ranvet Handicap (2200m), the first leg of a riding treble.
