After finishing second with Flattered in the Listed Gold Sovereign Stakes, Patrick Payne was back on his pedestal when Wings Of Song swept the fillies series in Tasmania in Sunday’s Listed Kevin Sharkie Tasmanian Oaks (2100m) at Launceston.
The 3-year-old daughter of Mendelssohn extended her winning sequence to five and fourth in Tasmania after the Listed Tasmanian Guineas, Thousand Guineas, and Listed Strutt Stakes.
From an inside barrier, Jye McNeill had the favourite travelling sweetly behind the leader, Very Sewreel, but found himself three back on the rails when Craig Newitt made a midrace move to take the lead on Buddong.
McNeill was not to be caught napping and immediately eased Wings Of Song into the running line and looked the winner a long way from home.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott0-trained horses rarely give in without a fight and the Snitzel filly Very Sewreel rallied to finish a half-length back in second.
The Danny O’Brien-trained Lean Mean Machine filly Ala Moana was back in third.
Bred at Twin Hills Stud by Sandy Tait and Jill Nivison and sporting the famous red silks with white cap, Wings Of Song advances her record to six wins, two seconds, and a third from eleven starts with earnings of $330,830.
“She’s gotten better every time,” McNeill said.
“It was the second time at the 2100m, and I felt she was stronger today. She had a nice resting run. There was a bit going on in the middle stages, and she adapted well.
“I loved the way she joined in with ease today, and she put the race away.”
Wings Of Song is a half-sister to Group II MVRC Moonee Valley Vase winner, near $1 million earner Cherry Tortoni (Night Of Thunder), and stakes-placed Jenny Jerome (Churchill).
They are among the five winners from as many to race for the Strategic mare Tortoni, a half-sister to the 13-time Group 1 winner Tie The Knot (Nassipour), who banked $6.2 million when trained by the late Guy Walter.
Also, a half-sister to the stakes winners Hood (Shamardal) and Dream Ballad (Singspiel), Tortoni is the final foal of the Group 1 VATC One Thousand Guineas heroine Whisked (Whiskey Road).
Tortoni has an unraced 2-year-old colt by Too Darn Hot (GB). After foaling a St Mark's Basilica (FR) filly in September, Tortoni was covered by Churchill (IRE).
