Aeliana is the sole filly in the bumper 18-horse field facing the starter in the A$2 million (S$1.69 million) Group 1 Australian Derby (2,400m) at Randwick on April 5, but from barrier 2, she looks hard to beat.
The Chris Waller-trained Castelvecchio three-year-old ran a cracking second in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2,000m) at her last start on March 22.
She looked in some strife when buried midfield in amongst horses. Not only was she struggling to find daylight, but she also got squeezed in between the fast-fading Savour The Dream and Majorca Sunset.
By the time Jason Collett had the three-time winner in clear air on the outside, Broadsiding had already pinched a decisive break.
She rattled home but it proved too little too late, falling short of a fourth success by a pimple.
There is little doubt in most observers' minds that she would have beaten Godolphin's colt fair and square had she got out of jail earlier.
Melbourne star hoop Damian Lane shuttles back to Sydney after a fruitful jaunt at the moved Tancred meeting at Rosehill on April 1.
Then, he knocked in a double, including the Group 1 win on another boom three-year-old filly, Treasurethe Moment, in the Vinery Stud Stakes (2,000m).
This year's renewal of the 3YO classic looks like a race in two on the market. Aeliana is a firm 2-1 favourite with only recent New Zealand Derby (2,400m) winner Willydoit close by at 5-2.
The rest are all at longer odds, including five-in-a-row seeker Shanwah (9-1) and Victoria Derby winner Goldrush Guru (12-1), but they are certainly not out of it.
Should Aeliana cross the line first around two and a half minutes after the start time of 2.15pm (Singapore time), it will be a milestone for the famous purple and white stars silks of Star Thoroughbreds.
Though the prominent Australian syndication has been racing horses for many decades, they had tended to plunder mostly the sprint riches, most notably with champion stallion Sebring in the 2008 Golden Slipper.
A close blood relation and a call out of the blue paved the way to a future Derby contender.
"We have won a Slipper of course, a Mackinnon, a Flight Stakes, and had an Epsom quinella," said Star's prinicipal Denise Martin to Sky Racing World.
"I have longed to win a Derby and didn't think it would really be possible because we tend not to buy stamina-type horses.
"Chris phoned me a couple of years ago and said, 'there is a relative here of Invincibella's, would you like to buy her?'."
Invincibella was a prolific multiple-Group winner prepared by Waller, Star's exclusive trainer. She is a half-sister to Temolie, the dam of an eye-catching filly at the Karaka sale in 2023.
Martin did not have to think too long.
"I said, 'I'll think about it. I've thought about it, yes please'," she said.
"I didn't see her, but I trusted his judgment and importantly, Chris works with (bloodstock agent) Guy Mulcaster. I knew he had seen the filly and recommended her to Chris and Chris recommended her to me."'
On the other hand, the Australian Derby is not unconquered domain for Waller who landed the spoils with the late Riff Rocket in 2024.
Sydney's multiple-champion trainer is hoping that trunk call from Karaka two years ago will pay handsome dividends, even with the perceived gender bias towards the colts.
"She was brave in the Rosehill Guineas. Having raced against the boys, we're not trying something new," said Waller.
"Whether she ran in the Vinery (March 29) or the Oaks (April 12), she had to run over 2,400m, so she might as well do it in the Derby.
"It takes a certain type of filly to take on the boys, but because she did it at her last two starts, first in the Randwick Guineas when she ran fourth (to Linebacker) and then the Rosehill Guineas, it made the decision easier."
manyan@sph.com.sg
