Trainer Patrick Ryan has outlined staying ambitions for promising filly Morgana, who handed Russian Camelot his first win as a sire with a front-running display at Mornington.
The daughter of Widden Victoria’s Russian Camelot led throughout to break her maiden in impressive fashion, marking a significant milestone for the stallion’s first crop to hit the track.
In a 1200m contest, Morgana outpaced Godolphin’s Bayou Music, with her race experience and superior fitness proving decisive in the finish.
Ryan believes he may have unearthed a bargain buy with upside both on the track and in the breeding barn.
“She was a cheap Inglis online horse, but there’s a bit of a backstory to it,” Ryan told Racing.com.
“We bought the mother and her half-sister for $700 last year, and (her half-sister) was stakes placed as a two-year-old.”
“Morgana came up subsequently, and we bought her for $10,000. So we now own the whole family pretty much, and they look promising.”
“She’s really lovely, a staying filly, so we are a bit hopeful that when we stretch her out in trips, she could be really above average.”
Morgana is a half-sister to Bushann, who finished behind eventual South Australian Derby winner Femminile in the Listed Oaklands Plate at Morphettville last season.
She is the second winner produced by metropolitan-performed Encosta De Lago mare Rising Hope, who was served again last spring by Russian Camelot, standing for a fee of $16,500.