Having had little luck on debut back in June, the Arrowfield-owned filly sat outside of Covent Garden (Exceed And Excel), Winx's half-sister, before kicking clear and then resisting the late charge of Yangtze Rapids (Frankel {GB}) to win by 0.2l, with Jack the Lad (I Am Invincible) third and the early leader finishing fourth.
Newham knows what it takes to win a Spring Champion S. for Arrowfield having done so with Maid Of Heaven (Smart Missile) in the race at just her fifth start in 2018 and the trainer sees plenty of similarities between the fillies.
"She’s a pretty good filly, nothing went right for her on debut, so we gave her a little break,” Newnham said. "She got the job done today but I think once we get her over a trip and she will be a lot better with something to chase.
“There were some nicely bred horses here. The second horse is a lovely bred Frankel colt, they don’t give these races away and this time of year if you’ve got 3-year-olds heading towards stakes races like I hope she is they have to win these races to progress, there’s no easy kills for them.
“I’d like to head her to the Flight S. and Champion S. because over a mile or 2000 metres I think she will be really effective. She is a half to Yankee Rose so I have got no worries about her getting a trip. She has a lovely relaxed demeanour, she’s got great wind so she has for the right attributes to do it.”
"She is a half to Yankee Rose so I have got no worries about her getting a trip." - Mark Newnham
Jockey Rachel King rode Maid Of Heaven in her spring campaign two years, and also sees some correlations between the two fillies.
"She needed someone to get to her and keep her mind on the job. She got past the leader a bit too easily and got a bit lost. She is such a relaxed horse and she is still working it out," she said, "When it really mattered today, she wanted to stick her head out and win the race.
"For her to be winning races like that and only really getting the hang of it the last 100 metres, is impressive, she has got a lot more to come.
"She has got exactly the same attitude as Maid Of Heaven."
Miravalle as a yearling
Miravalle was a $460,000 purchase by Rick Worthington out of the Kulani Park draft at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Her dam Condesaar (Xaar {GB}) now has five winners from five to the track highlighted by dual Group 1 winner Yankee Rose, who is now embarking on her breeding career in Japan. Now owned by Rosemont Stud, who paid $320,000 for her at the 2018 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, Condesaar has a yearling filly by Redoute’s Choice and was covered by Starcraft (NZ) last spring.
Joviality backs it up
In the following race, another promising filly further built on her reputation with Joviality (I Am Invincible) victorious in the Frosted @ Darley H. for trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald.
Backing up off her emphatic maiden win on a heavy track at the same track last month, Joviality broke the class record and went close to setting a new mark for the 1100 metre track record, defeating the promising Sixgun (Snitzel) by 2.3l with Kaakit Akit (Artie Schiller {USA}) in third in 1:02.17 .
"She's franked her form with a very good win coming from just off the speed," Waller said of the Star Thoroughbreds-owned filly, "She has run a very quick time, just outside the track record. She looks pretty smart and I think Denise is pretty smart for buying her sister as well."
Star Thoroughbreds' Denise Martin, together with Randwick Bloodstock, paid $330,000 for Joviality at the 2019 Inglis Classic Sale from Fairhill Farm and backed up to buy her younger sister, now named Affability, for $350,000 at the same sale again this year.
"It’s an exciting time of year to have a good filly like her," Waller said. "We will see what might be around for her the next few weeks. We might see her again in the spring, but she will certainly have a big autumn.
"What she is doing is pretty special and that's the most important thing."
It was the day for fast times, with the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Mr Mosaic (Rubick) going within 0.01s of the 1000 metre track record in claiming his third win from four starts.
Joviality as a yearling
