Bridal Waltz delivered another impressive performance at Caulfield on Saturday, securing what co-trainer Peter Moody described as a “bonus” Group win and continuing her rapid rise through the ranks.
The talented Snitzel filly made it two consecutive Black Type victories by taking out the $200,000 Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m).
This triumph followed her success in the Listed Creswick Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Finals Day, which Moody and co-trainer Katherine Coleman initially expected to be her final run of the campaign. Bridal Waltz has now claimed five wins from 12 starts.
“Now she’s made herself a valuable little girl, she’s a multiple Stakes winner, Stakes-placed and it’s been well-deserved,” Moody said.
“I’ve thought for her last couple of run she probably goes for a spell, but we’ll probably take her home and rinse and repeat; give her a week down the beach, reassess and have a look.
“It’d be nice to lift the bar a little. Do we find a mares Group 2 or something like now we’re a Group 3 winner, or we have a few weeks off and come back at Flemington in November and chase a little Stakes race there away from the A-graders?
“But, you never know, she might become an A-grader one day the way she’s going.”
Starting at $4.60 equal favourite, Bridal Waltz used her customary early speed to sit outside the leader and last year’s winner Recommendation ($6). She surged past that rival 150m from the finish and held off the fast-finishing Kin ($5) to score by half a neck.
Kin, trained by James Cummings in his final days as Godolphin’s Australian head trainer, flew home late after being held up at a crucial stage but just missed out. Yellow Sam ($6) finished a further three-quarters of a length away in third.
“Initially I thought he (Recommendation) was going to go a little bit slower than I would have liked, so I stayed out there and just forced him to come up inside me and go the tempo I wanted to go,” winning rider Ben Melham said.
“It worked out well for us. He got going before the corner, but I had a little weight turnaround on him and she was too good.”
Melham’s victory denied both Cummings a farewell feature success and Craig Williams, who had to settle for second aboard Kin. Williams did notch a win on Stylish Secret earlier in the card but remains seven wins behind Blake Shinn in the jockeys’ premiership heading into the final metropolitan meeting.
Punters looking to follow future markets for the Bletchingly Stakes can find the best odds and offers at leading Australian betting sites.
