A start in the South Australian Derby will be considered for Silvasista after her impressive win in the Listed VRC St Leger at Flemington.
The Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) will be run at Morphettville next Saturday while there is the option of the Group 3 SA Fillies Classic (2500m) at the same track the following week.
Relishing the rise in journey from her success over 2200m at Donald on April 14, Silvasista handled the 2800m journey on Saturday without any problem.
Under the guidance of Luke Currie, Silvasista ($3.70) scored by 3-½ length lengths from Finance Merchant ($16) with Chillies ($18) a further three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
The win by Silvasista completed a winning double for Melbourne Cup winning trainers Tony and Calvin Mcevoy following the win of Mr Blunt in the WGCDR Ian Bayles DFC (1800m).
“She’s a lovely filly but we weren’t sure whether she would stay on her pedigree being by Toronado,” Calvin McEvoy said.
“She put up a great run behind Salty Pearl over a mile and then went to Adelaide and disappointed us.
“We brought her back and brought her back in class and she won over 2200 metres at Donald and sort of looked near the end of it, but we wanted to test her here over the distance with a look to the 2500-metre fillies race in a couple of weeks.
“The way she won, it was a beautiful ride from Luke, and it could not have worked out any better.
“I’m thrilled for the team at Ballarat. They’ve sent two horses to the races today and they’ve both won at Flemington.”
Silvasista had chased home Salty Pearl at Caulfield before disappointing in a Stakes race in Adelaide late last month.
Stepping up in distance to 2200m at Donald, McEvoy said the team was still not convinced the filly was a stayer.
While successful, McEvoy said the one thing that was required of Currie was to get Silvasista to switch off early.
“The only thing we said to Luke was she was on trial at the distance, so get her to switch off as good as you can and be the last to challenge,” McEvoy said.
“He wasn’t the last to challenge as she was travelling so well and he couldn’t have executed it any better.
“She’s really continued to go through the grades and today was a big test.
“It’s a big race to win at Flemington and we’re very proud to win it.”
