The baby of the Chris Waller stable, Red Tracer, may be looking for Group 1 success in the coming weeks following her gutsy win in the Listed James H B Carr Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
Red Tracer ($2.50) pulled out plenty to defeat Melbourne visitor Flokkati ($15) by a length and a half, with a neck back to early leader Potions ($14) in third.
Queensland Oaks-bound filly I Walk The Line ($41) was an eye-catching run for fourth.
Waller was worried about the Red Tracer’s wet track credentials prior to the race, and he admits he had concerns as the field entered the straight.
“I thought she was in trouble at the 200m, but then she dug very deep and at the line I think she was coming away,” Waller said.
“She’s got a good future ahead of her.”
The canny trainer is eyeing off a possible tilt at Queensland’s biggest race, the Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), with the Dane Shadow filly.
However, he is mindful of her constitution.
“In our mind, she’s the baby of the stable, she’s only a little filly, she takes a few days to get over her wins,” Waller said.
“A lot of fillies who go well in the Stradbroke are big, strong fillies – like Private Steer, Gold Edition, Ortensia.”
“If you go to the Stradbroke, it doesn’t give you a lot of time for the spring – we’ll think about it.”
Following the race, jockeys were quick to express their thoughts about the state of the track.
Kerrin McEvoy, who rode Quidnunc, said the track was “definitely a heavy (10).”
The first race was conducted on a heavy (8), but it has since been downgraded to a heavy (9).
Written by Andrew Hawkins