After a close and unlucky first up defeat last month when third in the Group I ATC Winx Stakes, six year-old Sebring mare Fangirl was back on her pedestal as the best mare in Sydney when scoring a soft last to first victory in the $1million ATC 7+Sports Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Trained by Chris Waller and ridden by James McDonald, Fangirl finished third in this race last year behind Think It Over, but improved on that effort to charge home and win by half a length over talented imports My Oberon (IRE) and Royal Patronage (Fr).
The latest victory took Fangirl’s overall record to nine wins and nine placings from 27 starts with prizemoney topping $8.4million.
Fangirl sustained an injury in the stables during her autumn campaign which was cut short as a result, but she is now back firing on all cylinders ad looking to defend her title in the Group I ATC King Charles Stakes (1600m) next month which she won by nearly lengths over Mr Brightside.
"She had to give them a good start. I was thinking, thank God, we've got James aboard. So many things go through your mind, whether a jockey or a trainer on race day, and that's why you've got the good jockeys like your Corey Browns and Nash Rawillers, your Kerrins, and I'm lucky they ride for me, and they make my job look a damn lot easier, because it's not easy,” said Chris Waller.
"We didn't go out there with any pre-race plan, but just wary that it would be hard to make up ground, but she showed an amazing turn of foot, and she was brilliant. Especially when they're spinning out a couple of 12 seconds up in front.
"It was terrific, I thought."
James McDonald was full of praise for Fangirl.
A homebred for the Ingham family, Fangirl was foaled and raised at Coolmore before being broken in and educated at their Jerry’s Plains headquarters.
It’s been a sad week for Debbie Kepitis and her family as they lost last season’s champion three year-old Riff Rocket due to complications from colic surgery, a horse very dear to the hearts of the Ingham family, all of the staff at Chris Waller Racing and Coolmore where he was also foaled and raised.
Fangirl is by far the best of five winners from seven to race stakes-winning Encosta de Lago mare Little Surfer Girl, a daughter of triple Group I winner Special Harmony.
Little Surfer Girl has a two year-old filly by Wootton Bassett (GB) called Bella Wahine that is in work with Chris Waller and a yearling colt by Home Affairs, who covered her again last year.
