With Sweet Scandal, Za Zi Ba and In Good Time setting a hectic pace, Saturday's Group III Wenona Girl Quality (1200m) at Randwick was put on for the backmarkers with the Segenhoe Thoroughbreds Winter Bride proving the strongest in a driving finish.
Given a patient ride by Tommy Berry, the 4yo daughter of Not A Single Doubt defeated the top-weight Spright (Hinchinbrook) by a short-neck with Resin (Exceed And Excel) a half-head back in third. (images Steve Hart)
One of the finds of last spring, Winter Bride reeled off four consecutive wins culminating in the Group III How Now Stakes and Group III Northwood Plume Stakes, both at Caulfield, the latter at the expense of future Oakleigh Plate winner Booker.
After finishing unplaced in the Group II TAB stakes at Flemington on November 3, the Toby Edmonds-trained mare was given a spell but tuned up for a big first-up effort with a barrier trial win at the Gold Coast.
"She is a really improving mare this, Edmonds said.
"The trip to Melbourne during in the spring has done her the world of good. She has furnished. Both trials this time in have been super, well one was official, and one was just a jump out, but she was super on the track and we were confident she would run well.
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Tommy Berry was having his first ride on Winter Bride who was originally trained in Sydney by Peter Robl.
"She knows what she's got to do and she's a winner, plain and simple," Berry said.
"She's won nine from 18, she knows where the line is and she got there today, which is nice.
"The race just mapped perfectly for us today. I could have been a spot closer but I would've had to ask her to do a bit of work. I elected to just come back a bit, follow James (McDonald) into the race and the way she ran on was pretty impressive."
With her third Group III victory, Winter Bride advances her record to 9 wins, 4 wins, and 1 third from 18 starts with earnings of $495,050.
A homebred for Segenhoe Thoroughbreds, Winter Bride is one of three winners from as many to race out of the Group II AJC Emancipation Stakes winner Amberino (Perugino).
Segenhoe sold Amberino at the 2016 Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale for $150,000 to Vinery Stud when she was in foal to Hinchinbrook. That foal unfortunately died but Amberino had a filly by Press Statement, which was sold to Bruce Mackenzie for $170,000 at this year's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Amberino has a colt foal by Star Turn and was bred back to All Too Hard last spring.
