The 4yo Dundeel mare Hope In Your Heart completed Everest Day at Randwick with a typically courageous performance in the Group III Furphy Angst Stakes (1600m).
Completing a financially rewarding day for Craig Williams, Hope In Your Heart fought to a long-head win over Honeycreeper (Teofilo) with a further one and a quarter lengths back to the favourite Finepoint (Pins) in third.
It was the third consecutive win for the Kerry Parker-trained mare. Coming off a win in the Group III Tibbie Stakes at Newcastle, Hope In Your Heart advances her record to five wins, one second, and two thirds from 17 starts with earnings of $410,750.
“She’s done a wonderful job, she’s come a long way,” Parker said.
“Last prep we pushed her into those three-year-old races and no doubt it’s helped her come on and be a more mature mare now. She’s still a little bit silly here today before the race, but it had been a month between runs. Absolutely thrilled to see her get the job done.
“You’re only four-years-old once, if we could get into the Golden Eagle, that was always the plan. Go three weeks, now two weeks to come back another 100m, but she’s silly enough and so am I.
“You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and you aim up. You can’t come back and run in it next year. That’s been our plan all along to try and keep her as fresh as we could and space those runs three weeks between to hopefully get into the Golden Eagle.”
A homebred for Alex and Deidre Illes, Hope In Your Heart is the best of five winners from seven to race out of the Montjeu mare Hayaat, purchased for a bargain basement $500 at a mixed sale in 2011.
From the family of Zabeel, Hayaat is a half-sister to Capacity, dam of Single Minded (Bachelor Duke), winner of the Group II Auckland Cup and Group II Avondale Gold Cup.
Hayaat foaled a Castelvecchio three-quarter brother to Hope In Your Heart last spring after not being covered in the previous two seasons.
