Talented two-year-old She Will Reign has firmed into outright favouritism in early 2017 Golden Slipper betting markets after a dominant win in the Inglis Nursery (1000m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
She Will Reign secured a dominant win in the Inglis Nursery at Randwick over the weekend. Photo: Steve Hart
She Will Reign was sent off an odd-on favourite in only her second career start over the weekend, but was forced to do some work early after jumping only fairly.
Holding a good position in transit on the rail, jockey Ben Melham bided his time aboard the daughter of Manhattan Rain and was immediately greeted with a big turn of foot when he asked for an extra effort, as She Will Reign stormed clear of her rivals to claim a four length win.
Melham delivered a perfectly-timed ride aboard She Will Reign to see the filly secure a dominant win, and revealed that he was always confident in finding the winning post first after trialling the filly in November.
“I knew I’d win going around to the barriers,” Melham said after the race.
“I trialled her at Rosehill and put my name on her straight away.”
Trainer Gary Portelli was understandably thrilled with She Will Reign’s performance in the Inglis Nursery and confirmed that she will return to the paddock, ahead of her return during the 2017 Autumn Carnival.
“We’ll give her a little break now and work out a proper program over the next few days,” he told AAP.
“I’ll speak to the owners. I would have liked to go for the Blue Diamond, take the softer option, but we’ll wait and see.
“The rain-affected track was one of the reasons we ran at Randwick.
“The owners said at least we’ll get a feel for whether she handles the wet if she is good enough to go into a decent race down the track.”
Delivering a smart field a near-six length defeat in a Rosehill barrier trial over 900m prior to her competitive debut, She Will Reign immediately stamped herself as a filly to follow when she won the Festive Season Maiden Handicap (1000m) by nearly nine lengths on debut, in what was her only other start prior to the Inglis Nursery.
She Will Reign has firmed into 2017 Golden Slipper odds of $7.50 with online bookie Ladbrokes Australia.
