Bridal Waltz continued her impressive rise through the ranks with another big win at Caulfield on Saturday, giving co-trainer Peter Moody what he called a “bonus” Group race victory.
The Snitzel filly claimed her second consecutive Black Type success by taking out the $200,000 Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m), following on from her victory in the Listed Creswick Stakes (1200m) at Flemington on Finals Day.
Initially, Moody and co-trainer Katherine Coleman had expected the Creswick Stakes to be her final run of the preparation, but the filly has now tallied five wins from 12 career starts and continues to surprise.
“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.”
Sent out as a $4.60 equal favourite, Bridal Waltz positioned outside the leader Recommendation ($6) before hitting the front 150m out and fending off a late surge from Kin ($5) to prevail by half a neck. Yellow Sam ($6) finished third, three-quarters of a length away.
Winning jockey Ben Melham said the race panned out exactly as he had hoped.
“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,” 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.”
Kin’s strong finish denied trainer James Cummings a farewell feature victory in his final days with Godolphin Australia, while Craig Williams, who rode Kin, remains seven wins behind Blake Shinn in the premiership despite earlier winning aboard Stylish Secret.
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