Scorched Earth will head to the spelling paddock with an all-important black type victory under the belt having taken out the Listed Charter Keck Cramer Valley Pearl (1200m) at The Valley.
Saturday’s victory was the filly’s second in succession after winning the Magic Millions 2YO Classic at Murray Bridge at her previous start.
Under the guidance of Damien Oliver, Scorched Earth, the $2.40 favourite, raced to a three-quarter length win from Dio ($8) with Wizard Of Oz ($18) three lengths away third.
Trainer John Moloney said he learned a little more about Scorched Earth with the filly being able to take a sit behind the speed.
“Getting in behind and doing it that way was good,” Moloney said.
“She responded well to Damien’s riding and was able to go to the line in good fashion, I thought.
“She’ll go to the paddock now. I just wanted to get this run out of her today that gives us a linking towards the spring that says ‘ok, you might be alright at this caper’ and so far, she’s good.”
Oliver reunited with Scorched Earth after trialling the filly at Geelong in January.
However, commitments to Godolphin saw Oliver bypass the ride on Scorched Earth first-up at Caulfield before her success at Murray Bridge.
“She’s a lovely filly. I trialled her at Geelong and she impressed me that day,” Oliver said.
“I wanted to ride her first-up but I thought it’d be smarter to stick with the Godolphin team who have been supporting me really well, but I’ve kept in close contact with Johnny because I wanted to ride her when I could.
“I always thought that if there was enough speed in the race that she could take a trail and she did it perfectly today.”
Written by Craig Brennan
