Verry Elleegant has a well-earned reputation as a superior wet track performer, but she showed both her versatility and class by accounting for a quality line-up of weight-for-age performers in the 2000 metre feature.
In yet another stunning result for Chris Waller, Verry Elleegant headed home a Turnbull trifecta for the master Sydney-based trainer with Toffee Tongue (NZ) (Savabeel) finishing hard for second and Finche (GB) (Frankel {GB}) taking third in a hard-fought finish.
Verry Elleegant’s performance under new rider Mark Zahra elevated her to $8 favouritism for the G1 Caulfield Cup ahead of Aidan O’Brien’s Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
The mare had won the G1 Winx S. when resuming and then finished fourth of seven in the G1 George Main S. at Randwick before moving camp to Melbourne.
“Mark certainly gave her every chance today and she wasn’t disgraced at her previous start,” Waller’s Melbourne representative Jo Taylor said.
“She probably had a lot of knockers, but she showed she’s also better outside of horses and given some room and allowed to find her feet before she shows her best side.”
Mare’s class shines
Taylor admitted there was some pre-race concern about the firmer surface, but class won out.
“Absolutely, it’s certainly something we took into consideration but it is what it is and you play to it on the day and she showed it doesn’t worry her,” she said.
Verry Elleegant sat back in the second half of the field before Zahra urged her forward and they were widest into the straight.
“Her wet record is a bit better than on the dry, but she only had 55.5kg in the race and she did the rest,” he said. “I had the back of Finche and one got under my neck, which I wasn’t happy about and I had to come another horse wider.
“She likes being outside horses and she likes being in the open. She was strong at the finish because it was a ding-donger."
“She was strong at the finish because it was a ding-donger.” – Mark Zahra
While the G1 Cox Plate may now become an option, Zahra is hoping connections stick to the original plan.
“I’m booked for the Caulfield Cup so I hope they go there,” he said.
Last season’s G1 Schweppes Oaks winner Toffee Tongue raced midfield on the fence and she got home strongly along the rail to put a previous unplaced effort behind her.
“She was absolutely fantastic and she nearly upset the whole apple cart and good to see her bounce back. We were a touch disappointed in her last start, but she’s back,” Taylor said.
Verry Elleegant (NZ) (red and blue silks), and Finche (pink cap)
The third member of the Waller trio Finche also performed with great distinction to finish a close third.
“He again was fantastic and he’s looking to step out in trip and we know the G1 Melbourne Cup is his grand final,” Taylor said.
She put down Waller’s remarkable training success to a combination of factors.
“Chris has patience and has his own ideas and sticks with it. A lot of people may question it, but he backs himself and at the same time gives his team the freedom to do what they think is best for the horses,” she said.
“At the end of the day, nothing beats hard work and I think you’ll find nobody works harder than Chris on a daily basis.”
