The first two trials at Warwick Farm on Tuesday morning featured a galaxy of stars with seven Group I winners engaged, but the two heats were won by three year-old fillies that have yet to win a G1, but promise to do so in the autumn.
Justify (USA) has been making headlines for all the right reasons of late, but this time last year it was a different two year-old that was putting his name in lights and that was Learning to Fly.
She scored dazzling wins in stakes races at her first three starts in January, February and March before losing her rider and being injured in the Golden Slipper.
Annabel Neasham has taken a patient approach in returning the star filly to racing and she looked strong and ready to fire this morning in her second trial back winning with ears pricked over Caulfield Guineas winner Griff and Group II winner Encap with Victoria Derby winner Riff Rocket and G1 mares Atishu and Espiona closely off nicely.
Bred on the same cross as Storm Boy being by Justify from a daughter of Fastnet Rock, Learning to Fly will have a myriad of options in the autumn and it will be interesting to see where she slots back into the very competitive three year-old fillies division.
Ruling that fillies division through the start of last spring was I Am Invincible filly Tiz Invincible, who won three successive stakes races before drawing wide and coming unstuck in the Group I ATC Flight Stakes over 1600m before she was freshened to finish midfield in the Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes against the colts.
The Ciaron Maher ad David Eustace trained filly looked sharp in her first trial since then working up on the inside to win over the Group winning import Buckaroo (IRE) with another Group winning filly Lazzago in third ahead of G1 stars Think it Over, Fangirl and Militarize.
She wasn’t as visually impressive as Learning to Fly, but has the proven record at three so when these two meet in a race it’s going to be more than interesting!
