When Arctic Glamour claimed the scalp of subsequent Group 1 winner Joliestar as a three-year-old, connections thought the sky was the limit.
It has taken two years and several frustrating defeats for the mare to win again — but she did so in style on Saturday, upsetting more fancied rivals to take out the Group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m) at Rosehill.
“It has been a while between drinks, but she has prepped up really well this preparation,” co-trainer Sterling Alexiou said.
“She was a bit unlucky in a Missile Stakes behind Schwarz, but she just hasn’t won for so long.
“I’m more pleased for the owners because last time she won a race she beat Joliestar and we didn’t know what we had and where we could end up with her.
“It has been two-and-a-bit years now, so not a bad race to resume winning in.”
With blinkers applied, Arctic Glamour ($41) jumped cleanly and Tom Sherry elected to sit outside the leader. She took over at the top of the straight and dug in late to hold off Bauhinia ($13) by a neck, with Snow In May ($15) a further 1¾ lengths away.
The win brought up a treble for Sherry, who earlier combined with Annabel and Rob Archibald to win aboard Tuned and Luskaire.
“I had good rides today but that doesn’t always go to plan,” Sherry said.
“When it does go to plan it’s exciting. She has obviously been out of form, goes well fresh, and the blinkers sparked her up.”
Along with the gear change, Arctic Glamour has enjoyed a trouble-free prep after previously battling feet issues — and a tweak to her routine also helped.
“She normally wears visors, we put the blinkers on and did a few different things with her,” Alexiou said.
“We worked her a bit sharper. We put her over some hurdles — she schooled this morning, just to get her thinking again. Completely rapt.”
A failure on Saturday would have seen her retired to the broodmare barn, but instead she is now likely to press on to the Festival Stakes (1500m) later this month.
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