Although it looked more workman-like than brilliant, Golden Slipper heroine She Will Reign opened her autumn campaign with a win in Saturday's $250,000 Inglis Sprint (1100m) on her home track at Warwick Farm.
Reunited with Ben Melham, She Will Reign was not the best to begin but was allowed to find her feet before being surged to the front.
She kept up to the mark by Melham to beat Acqume (Sepoy) by a length with Limbo Soul (I Am Invincible) a length and three-quarters back in third. (photo Steve Hart) .
The daughter of Manhattan Rain will now head to Melbourne for the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield in a fortnight.
"It is always a bit nerve-wracking and she was out of her comfort zone but she got the job done and that's what we wanted,' winning trainer Gary Portelli told AAP.
"There is still improvement in her for the Oakleigh Plate.
"I've always thought she was a better horse chasing and if Nature Strip had been there she wouldn't have had to lead."
She Will Reign advances her record to 6 wins and 1 second from 8 starts with earnings of $3,180,400.
Her only failure came at her most recent start in the $10 million Everest.
Bred by Garry Bachell, She Will Reign was a $20,000 purchase for Darby Racing from the Ambergate Farm draft (as agent for Middlebrook Station Thoroughbreds) at the 2016 Inglis Classic Yearling sale.
She is the first foal of the Sydney winning Charge Forward mare Courgette, herself a $25,000 Inglis Premier Yearling.
Courgette is a daughter of the unraced Marscay mare Our Farm Girl a sister to Listed Gimcrack Stakes winner Millie and a half-sister to Listed Winter Cup winner Touch Of Sun (Snippets) out of the Group II Reisling Slipper winner and Group 1 AJC Oaks runner-up Sunshine Sally (Cheraw).
Courgette has a 2yo filly by Shamus Award and a yearling colt by Time For War who was purchased Darby Racing/De Burgh Equine/Portelli Racing for $325,000 at the Magic Millions.
After foaling a filly by Time For War last spring, Courgette was bred back to I Am Invincible.
