Godolphin fillies a force at Moonee Valley

A talented group of three-year-old fillies led by the emerging star Demerara will be out to establish their place in the stable hierarchy at Moonee Valley on Saturday.

Unbeaten in her three starts, Demerara (Brenton Avdulla) faces the biggest test of her short career in the Listed Crockett Stakes where she is joined by stable companion Jorda (Hugh Bowman).

Another pair of Godolphin fillies, Banish (Craig Williams) and Speedway (Kerrin McEvoy), run in the G2 Fillies Classic, a race it is hoped will provide a guide to their future paths.

Demerara demonstrated her ability at the earliest opportunity, winning a two-year-old handicap at Kembla Grange last November before returning to the track a month ago to take up where she left off.

“We gave her a good break after she won on debut as a two-year-old and let nature take its course with her and she really rewarded us with a 1000m win at Gosford,” said trainer James Cummings.

“Then we brought her to town and tested her at 1200 metres which is a hard jump for a front-running horse like her, but she handled it very nicely.”

Jorda comes to the race in a bid to recapture her good two-year-old form. 

“I was inclined to nominate her because she’d done so well since running at Caulfield last Saturday and we know she is a better filly than she has shown at her last couple of starts” he said.

Banish and Speedway are on a different path over the 1600m of the G2 Fillies Classic where both attempt to earn black type for the first time.

Banish won impressively first-up against older mares at Cranbourne before twice running well in set weights races in Melbourne and then returning to the provincials for a confidence-boosting win.

“Even though she meets some good fillies here, she has the ability to finish off really well, she has experience at the Valley and I think she can see out the mile strongly,” he said.

 Speedway had put together an impressive record before her last-start fifth to Pinot in the G3 Ethereal Stakes over 2000m at Caulfield.

 “There was a huge question mark over her at 2000m and despite placing over that trip she looks much better dropping back to the mile here,” Cummings said.