Adrian Bott has labelled Agrarian Girl’s tenacity as her key asset and says she deserves a chance to race her way into the Golden Slipper after making a winning debut in the Lonhro Plate at Randwick.
Starting a $31 outsider despite claiming the scalp of last weekend’s Canonbury Stakes winner Hidrix in a recent barrier trial, Agrarian Girl mustered speed to share the lead before appearing to be headed by eventual runner-up Spicy Miss ($3.70).
Refusing to lay down, she kicked back and was pulling clear again on the line to score by a half-length with Savage Look ($61) another 1-3/4 lengths away third.
Bott said the win came as no shock to the stable, and felt the filly’s narrow trial victory might have been misleading as she was still learning.
“Maybe she has looked a little bit under pressure in her trials, but she has still been learning and developing, and she responded in those and that’s exactly what she did today,” Bott said.
“She has been a very talented filly all the way through. We did feel we were throwing her a little bit in the deep end, we did have her nominated for Canberra yesterday as well.
“In fairness, off her trials and the way she looked, she just looked too magnificent to pass up racing here for a bit of black type on her home track.”
Agrarian Girl’s success has earned her a chance to race her way into the Golden Slipper (1200m), Bott saying they will weigh up the best way to get there.
“I think we have to. Whether that’s through a Silver Slipper or we trial into a race like the Reisling (Stakes), she has certainly got to be in contention with that tenacity she showed today,” he said.
“I’m sure there is some really nice improvement to come.”
Agrarian Girl gave jockey Winona Costin an early double after partnering the Craig Carmody-trained Zenmaster to an all-the-way win in the opening race and she was thankful to Bott and training partner Gai Waterhouse for giving her another stakes race opportunity.
“I’ve always been able to get a fair few two-year-old winners for them so it’s good to get one in town for them,” Costin said.
The winner’s stablemate Lady Moscato started a $3.60 favourite and finished fourth after racing outside the lead.
The filly was returning from a debut second at the Gold Coast last month and Bott felt she would strip fitter for the run.
“She was honest. She just got a little bit keen outside the lead,” he said.
“Maybe the time between races for her, she’s still got plenty of time to keep improving.”
Agrarian Girl has firmed from $101 into $34 for the Golden Slipper.
