Craig Williams has been booked to ride Fontiton in the 2015 Moir Stakes and he is excited to partner the talented filly after she impressed him with her performance in a jump out at Ballarat last week.
Fontiton will take on the older horses for the first time in the 2015 Moir Stakes. Photo by: Adrienne Bicknell
Fontiton has not been seen at the races since she was beaten as favourite in the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on February 28, but she has been specifically set for a first-up tilt at the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on Friday night after she underwent surgery to remove bone chips from her fetlock during her stint in the spelling paddock.
Williams had his first opportunity to ride Fontiton when he partnered her in a jump out at Ballarat last week and the talented jockey was happy with the way that she felt as she builds towards the 2015 Moir Stakes.
“I was going through her tapes last night and she’s a serious racehorse, so I’m looking forward to seeing her back at the track,” Williams told AAP.
“I jumped her out the other day and they ran really fast
“She was quite hairy in the coat but that would have really brought her on, so I’m really looking forward to her turning up in the mounting yard to see how she looks.
“It’s going to be a cracking race.”
Fontiton stamped herself as a filly to watch when she recorded a dominant six lengths victory in the Inglis Banner (1000m) at Moonee Valley on October 25 last year and she went on to take out both the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) at Sandown on January 26 and the Group 2 Blue Diamond Prelude (1100m) at Caulfield on February 14.
The Tufffontein filly was found with bone chips following her Blue Diamond Stakes defeat, but trainer Robert Smerdon is happy with the way that she is bounced back from the operation and he believes that she is deserving of an opportunity in a race like the Moir Stakes.
“She looks to have come as good as she was and has physically progressed but Friday night is the acid test,” Smerdon said.
“She’s been based at her Ballarat stable and has done everything that we’ve asked.
“Last Saturday morning she worked on the course proper at Ballarat and was very good again but she’ll need to be at her best because it looks like being a tough race.”
The 2015 Moir Stakes field will be released tomorrow and Fontiton is set to take on the likes of Buffering, Rain Affair, Ball Of Muscle and Petits Filous in the Group 1 event.
