Lightly raced filly Lumosty will be one step closer to a Brisbane Winter Carnival campaign if she can repeat her first up winning performance at Flemington Saturday.
Lumosty will head to Brisbane for the Winter Carnival after she runs at Flemington on Saturday. Photo by. Adrienne Bicknell.
Lumosty resumed from a spell to score a three lengths runaway win over 1100m in the $80,000 All Victorian Sprint Series Heat 2 down the Flemington straight on May 9 against the open class sprinters and trainer Robert Smerdon has entered her in two races on the weekend.
The Fastnet Rock filly has been lumped with 63kg in the $80,000 Trevor Clarke Handicap (1200m) against the three year old fillies and she is also entered in the Listed $120,000 The Straight Six (1200m) against the older horses again with 54kg, Smerdon’s preferred race.
Lumosty is entered for the Group 1 $2m AAMI Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) at Doomben on June 6 but Smerdon is expecting her to be well down the order of entry when the weights are released on Monday.
If that is the case then he will stick to the fillies and mares races and run Lumosty in the Group 2 $300,000 Best Security Dane Ripper Stakes (1350m) at Doomben on the same day as the Stradbroke Handicap before tackling the Group 1 $500,000 Sky Racing Tattersall’s Club Tiara (1400m) at the Gold Coast on June 20.
“There’s either the Dane Ripper, over 1350 for fillies and mares, or the Stradbroke, but she’s way down the order in terms of getting into the Stradbroke so that choice might be taken out of our hands,” Smerdon told Racing.com’s Racing Ahead on RSN.
“So we might go from Flemington to the Dane Ripper and then the Tatt’s Tiara.”
Lumosty showed a lot of potential during the 2014 Melbourne Spring Carnival and was sent out the $4.40 favourite for the Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington after winning the Group 2 $200,000 Drummond Golf Fillies Classic (1600m) at Moonee Valley at her previous start.
The three year old filly could only manage to finish sixth behind Set Square in the Crown Oaks and then had an enforced break because of a fetlock injury.
Smerdon was very excited with the way Lumosty took care of the field at Flemington first up and is keen to win some more black type races with the valuable filly.
“With that enforced break I think that’s been beneficial to her,” Smerdon said.
“She spelled well, came back in really good order and has looked terrific the whole way through.
“She’s quite strong and has taken the next step in terms of maturity.”
“As a Group Two winner what she needs now is some semblance of Group One form.”
