Price Bloodstock’s 4-year-old Smart Missile mare Aviatress put a competitive field of mares to the sword in Saturday’s Group III Senet Northwood Plume Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Ridden by Craig Williams for Richard and Chantelle Jolly, Aviatress sat on the speed set by Shaime, and when Williams pressed the button, the response was instantaneous. She quickly put two lengths on the field and carried that to the line to defeat the favourite A Little Deep (Deep Field) by two and three-quarter lengths, with Bizot (I Am Invincible) three-quarters of a length back in third.
With her maiden stakes win, Aviatress advances her record to five wins, a second, and a third from ten starts with earnings of $287,950.
Aviatress had been winless in four previous stake races, coming closest when third in the Listed Lightning Stakes at Morphettville in July.
Richard Jolly said the daughter of Smart Missile had been plagued by bad luck.
“She really should have won a stakes race by now. She's been hampered by bad barriers. She hasn't had much go right. So, she's always been at this level, but we just had to work our way there,” Jolly said.
“This mare's been a bit unlucky this prep. She probably should have won a couple more, but good to see her get a stake in winning the board, especially for Price Bloodstock.
“She was struggling to get a run in these races and we needed her rating to be a bit higher, so we opted to stay in Adelaide (at her most recent start at Morphettville), which she duly won. It bumped her up another four points to an 80 rater, which just helped her secure a run in these races because we’ve always thought she was good enough, but we were borderline being emergencies and not knowing where we were going. So, thankfully, we went that path and you saw the best of her today.”
“Once she sat outside the lead and travelled well, she's always going to give a good kick. I was pretty confident when they went past us at about the 100 (metres), so it's a good feeling.
There's a 1,400-metre race on Cup Day, which we're probably looking at. We'll let the dust settle and get her home and work it out from there.
“I think then she'd be spelling. We've got some nice races in Adelaide. Obviously, our Sangster (Stakes) and those mare's races."
The Price Bloodstock homebred is the best of five winners from as many to race for the talented Bel Esprit mare Twin Star Rocket.
A winner at Newcastle and placed in a further two of her five starts carrying the Gooree Stud silks, Twin Star Rocket is a half-sister to the Listed ATC PJ Bell Handicap winner Ever The Same (Canny Lad).
Twin Star Rocket is a great-granddaughter of the hugely influential Dancing Show (USA), the dam of Hurricane Sky, Umatilla, and blue hen Shantha's Choice.
It’s been a tale of woe of late for Twin Star Rocket. She has not had a live foal since Aviatress and missed to Smart Missile last spring.
Aviatress is the 25th stakes-winner for Twin Hills Stud’s Smart Missile, which stands this season for $13,200.
