By Neil Evans
A maiden showdown over 1000m between three exciting Warwick Farm-based fillies looms as the headline grabber at the feature meeting at Nowra on Sunday.
All three have won their most recent trial, one of them by a staggering nine lengths before she even makes her debut.
Trainer Matthew Smith brings Frilled to the races for the first time.Credit: bradleyphotos.com.au
Heading the trio is first-starter Star Witness three-year-old Frilled, which has been first past the post in all three of her trials. Trained by Matthew Smith, she cruised home in a one-off soft track trial at Randwick back in late October before being turned out.
Frilled returned from the paddock in March as an even more dynamic youngster, winning a trial four weeks ago by nearly four lengths before toying with her opposition by nine lengths at Warwick Farm in soft 6 conditions and running a tick over 33seconds for her last 600m.
She clearly stands out as the one to beat on debut.
Drawn inside Frilled is Wandjina three-year-old Terra Mater, which looms as a serious threat from the Jarrod Austin stable. After hitting the line for two impressive second placings last November, she was spelled.
But she looks ripe for a big return off two progressive trials. She bolted in in the latest by nearly three lengths on that same day as Frilled, although her sectional times were all slower than her.
Rounding out the three-pronged battle is another well-bred debutant Champers Girl, which is the only two-year-old in the field and jumps from the outside barrier. The striking daughter of American Pharoah is trained by Bjorn Baker at Warwick Farm.
Champers Girl is also unbeaten at the trials, having won at Hawkesbury three weeks ago before cruising home in average time on that same trial day at Warwick Farm. All three are likely to cover around 80 per cent of the entire market, with barely another runner priced under 20-1.
Supplied by Racing NSW. Full form and race replays available at racingnsw.com.au
