Silvasista claims VRC St Leger

MELBOURNE – Silvasista will be considered for a start in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2,500m) after her impressive win in the A$200,000 (S$182,000) Listed VRC St Leger (2,800m) at Flemington on April 25.

The South Australian Derby will be run at Morphettville on May 2, while there is also the option of the Group 3 South Australian Fillies Classic (2,500m) at the same track on May 9.

Relishing the rise in journey from her success over 2,200m at Donald on April 14, Silvasista handled the 2,800m journey without any problem.

Under the guidance of Luke Currie, Silvasista ($21) scored by 3½ lengths from Finance Merchant (Brad Rawiller) with Chillies (Beau Mertens) a further ¾ length away in third.

The win by the Toronado three-year-old filly completed a winning double for Melbourne Cup-winning trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy, following Mr Blunt’s ($87) triumph in the WGCDR Ian Bayles DFC (1,800m).

“She’s a lovely filly but we weren’t sure whether she would stay on her pedigree being by Toronado,” said Calvin McEvoy.

“She put up a great run behind Salty Pearl over a mile, then went to Adelaide and disappointed us.

“We brought her back and also back in class, and she won over 2,200m at Donald and sort of looked near the end of it, but we wanted to test her here over the distance with a look to the 2,500m fillies’ race in a couple of weeks.

“The way she won, it was a beautiful ride from Luke, and it could not have worked out any better.

“I’m thrilled for the team at Ballarat. They’ve sent two horses to the races today and they’ve both won at Flemington.”

Silvasista had chased home the Ciaron Maher-trained Salty Pearl in the Platinum Guineas (1,600m) at Caulfield on March 14 before disappointing in a Listed race over the same trip in Adelaide on March 28.

Even after she stepped up to 2,200m at Donald, McEvoy said the team was still not convinced the filly was a stayer.

While successful, McEvoy said the one thing that was required of Currie was to get Silvasista to switch off early.

“The only thing we said to Luke was she was on trial at the distance, so get her to switch off as good as you can and be the last to challenge,” he said.

“He wasn’t the last to challenge as she was travelling so well. He couldn’t have executed it any better.

“She’s really continued to go through the grades and today was a big test.

“It’s a big race to win at Flemington and we’re very proud to win it.”

Earlier, Blind Raise has kept his record intact with an impressive win in the A$175,000 Anzac Day Stakes (1,400m).

Trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young said they will head north to Brisbane with the Ace High two-year-old.

Back in 2024, Busuttin and Young won the same feature with Epimeles but made the decision to spell him after his victory to concentrate on a spring campaign, but they would not be making the same mistake with Blind Raise.

Sent out as the $10 favourite under Mertens, Blind Raise raced away to a two-length victory from Profligate (Luke Cartwright) with Seraphox (Declan Bates) a half-head away in third.

Busuttin said the Group 2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1,400m) at Eagle Farm on May 30 and the Group 1 JJ Atkins (1,600m) on June 13 are on the agenda for Blind Raise.

“Plenty of things can go wrong between now and when they turn three and that’s why we want to go to Brisbane,” he said.

“When Epimeles won this race, we said we’d spell and go for the spring, but things haven’t stopped going wrong with him ever since.

“For this bloke, there are two million-dollar races up in Queensland and I might even get a trip up there.”

Blind Raise is unbeaten in two races having scored on debut over 1,400m at Sandown on April 6.

Busuttin said it was pleasing to see Blind Raise take the step from his debut win to success in a Stakes race.

“He did it pretty impressively and the market said he would and you always want to see them do it, especially at their second start,” he said.

“He’s taken that next step, and he’s done it pretty easily, although he floated out in front by himself a bit, but it’s good to get the job done.” RACING AND SPORTS