Under My Spell produced a track record to claim the $50,000 Porter Plant Cup at Sportsbet-Ballarat on Friday. This win, her second this preparation and third in her career, was perhaps her strongest.
“Having speed in the race certainly worked in her favour. She is a nice mare, still progressing.” – Nigel
Returning to the same track and distance as her three length win back in June, Under My Spell was this time facing some stronger opposition. At BM78 grade the pace is often stronger, as is the competition. But this really helped the five-year-old daughter of Pierro.
From barrier 1, in-form rider Alana Kelly positioned herself and Under My Spell perfectly in fourth place on the rails. My Boy Birmingham is a noted leader, so Alana waited and angled off the fence at the top of the straight. There was only one horse to worry about. Under My Spell cruised up to My Boy Birmingham by the 100m mark and Alana gave her the extra encouragement needed to kick straight past. In doing so, the 1500m track record was broken.
Watch the replay here on racing.com.
“Under My Spell has her quirks but we are working her out now. It’s so important for breeders like Brendan and Jo Lindsay, and Cambridge Stud, that their fillies and mares perform at city level. A few city placings and now three wins gives me great confidences that a metro win is not far away.” – Nigel
Under My Spell was the second win for the day for Blackiston Racing and Alana Kelly, following Madame Solario’s impressive win earlier.