Carr filly off to a Flyer
WELL-BRED filly Queenborough Flyer looks set to make her long-awaited return to racing next month after scoring an impressive trial win over 800m at Elwick on Tuesday.
The Siggy Carr-trained three-year-old won at her only start in Launceston in October but after finishing second to Alpine Wolf in a Longford trial she suffered a fractured vertebrae (C1-C2) which required a lengthy break from racing.
Queenborough Flyer (Alpine Eagle-Silandro) was being prepared for many of the feature three-year-old events during the summer carnival when she went amiss.
Siggy Carr Racing manager Tania Coward said she was thrilled with the filly’s trial on Tuesday and provided she pulled up well she would have another in a fortnight.
“Then Siggy will assess where she is at and go from there, but the important thing is she gets through the two trials without any issues,” Coward said.
David Pires, who rode the filly in this latest trial, was impressed with her effort.
“She missed the start slightly but once she was balanced up, she raced well,” Pires said.
“Even though she hung in a bit in the straight and was looking at everything around her, she hit the line well.
“She has a decent motor and I’m sure everyone connected with her would have been pleased with her effort.”
Carr wasn’t at the trials because she was diagnosed with Covid last week and her life partner and fellow jockey Troy Baker has also fallen victim to the virus.
The fastest of the five 800m trial winners at Elwick on Tuesday was the Cameron Thompson-trained Bothered who scampered over the trip in 50.87 seconds and ran the last 600m in 34.82.
Bothered had only one start in the state on Devonport Cup Day last year after which she suffered a capped hock that required 12 months in the paddock.
Thompson didn’t expect a lot in the trial because the mare had been away from racing for 16 months.
“She was just in this trial to go around for fitness, but she surprised me the way she tackled her first decent hitout in well over a year,” he said.
“We will bring her back to Elwick for another trial and then look for a suitable race.”
● TWO of Tasmanian’s bestperformed racemares, Still A Star and Deroche, went under the hammer at the Magic Millions Broodmare sale on the Gold Coast on Tuesday and both were sold.
Melbourne Group 2 winner Still A Star sold to Widden Stud for $700,000 while Deroche, who won 13 of her 26 starts, was knocked down to Newgate Bloodstock for $260,000.