Avery Anna has showcased her potential with a maiden victory at Geelong.

The Ladbrokes Popular SRM Maiden Plate (1125) on Wednesday culminated in a thrilling finish involving three debutants.

The Leon and Troy Corstens and Will Larkin-trained filly was the least favoured of the trio, easing from an opening quote of $3.80 to $5.

In contrast, the runner-up, Voltrix, started as the $2.30 favourite, having firmed from $2.15 on-course following early support. A significant market move also occurred for Big Lap, who officially opened at $4 and tightened to $3.10 after attracting bets as high as $17 the preceding day.

It was Avery Anna, ridden by Craig Williams, who dug deepest at the finish to secure a win by a half-head from Voltrix, with Big Lap finishing a similar margin back in third.

Larkin commented that the stable had anticipated a strong showing from Avery Anna, while admitting the filly would improve with the racing experience.

“She’s a filly that I think has a lot of ability, but she is still not all there quite yet,” Larkin told racing.com.

“She was over-racing at times in the mid-stages. She’s got a good turn of foot but was floating around late.

“I thought she was going to get headed at the 100 (metres) and run a nice third, but she stuck on and wanted to be there.

“It’s good signs for a horse going forward and we did say to the owners this morning that she was still six months away from being at her best as she’s got quite a bit of maturity still to come.”

Williams concurred with Larkin’s post-race assessment, noting Avery Anna possessed a good engine but lacked the necessary racing smarts on debut, despite the hard-fought, narrow win.

“The stable was very confident with her today and she still has all her future in front of her when she develops a bit more and she will learn a lot from this race experience,” Williams said.

“Most importantly, she has a good motor.”

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