The decision to shift the Thousand Guineas back a month has been advantageous for connections of up-and-coming filly Arctic Glamour after she confirmed plans to target the Group 1 feature with a resounding return at Rosehill.
Gerald Ryan, who trains her in partnership with Sterling Alexiou, said they deliberately gave Arctic Glamour a break after two minor placings during the winter, acting on the advice of top jockey Kerrin Mcevoy who felt the Melbourne feature might be a nice fit.
“She has always been a filly we’ve had a really good opinion of,” Ryan said.
“Sterling found her in the Melbourne Premier Sale and rang me about her, so I went down a couple of days later and bought her.
“After her first two starts, Kerrin told us to put her away because she could make a Thousand Guineas 2023 horse so that’s what we did and that’s where we’ll hopefully end up.”
In a dominant display, Arctic Glamour settled worse than midfield and had to shoulder into the clear at the top of the straight but once she balanced up, she let go with a sizzling turn of foot.
So quickly did the $2.30 Boombet favourite finish, she put 4-1/2 lengths on Mostro ($8.50) in Wednesday’s TAB We’re On Handicap (1200m) with Groundrush ($5) third.
While the date change for the Thousand Guineas (1600m) has been met with mixed responses overall, Ryan says it has worked in Arctic Glamour’s favour.
“It fell into place for us, I don’t know if it fell into place for everyone,” he said.
“She will probably go to the James Carr (Stakes) now on Everest day then she’ll have another run here over a mile or a run at Flemington through the carnival.”
A daughter of Frosted, Arctic Glamour was a $185,000 purchase, and McEvoy said she did a great job to win after being awkwardly placed in the run.
“As soon as I pressed the button she was pretty electric and got there very sharply. The race was over in three strides,” McEvoy said.
“It’s nice to see her with that turn of foot. I think she’ll get over a bit further and she’s got some fun to be had with her in the spring.”
The midweek meeting also marked the returns of Tommy Berry and James Mcdonald, the former having not ridden in a race since January after being suspended for improper dealings with a punter, while McDonald was coming back from a broken foot.
McDonald’s best result was a second on Carrazana while none of Berry’s three mounts were able to feature in the placings.
