Cavalry Girl has maintained her consistent form with a blistering win at Caulfield Heath.
Having broken through for her first Black Type win in Adelaide last start, Cavalry Girl stepped up to open company on Saturday and showed her class by taking out the Sweeney Estate Agents Handicap (1000m).
Sent off as the $2.80 favourite under jockey Linda Meech, Cavalry Girl produced a strong burst of acceleration soon after the turn for home, leaving her rivals in her wake. She defeated Along The River ($5) by an impressive 3-¾ lengths, with Bazaball Reward ($4) finishing a neck behind in third. Those following the sports betting action would have noted the favourite’s superior performance.
Joe O’Neill, a senior owner of Cavalry Girl, indicated that a decision on the mare’s future path towards the spring would be made after discussions with trainer Tom Dabernig.
“What we might do is step back,” O’Neill said. “She’s had a pretty good prep, and you can go to the well once too often.”
“She loves the straight at Flemington and to be there during Melbourne Cup week would be nice, but we’ll just see. There are options. There are races in Sydney, there are races here, but I don’t know if Sandown would suit her. She can only do what she is doing, and she is belting them and that was a pretty fair field.”
O’Neill has largely ruled out the Group 1 Moir Stakes (1000m), which will be run at Sandown this year, favouring sprint races down the Flemington straight during Cup week, a track Cavalry Girl has previously proven effective on.
Cavalry Girl, a daughter of Bivouac, has now won six of her 16 career starts, with four additional placings and earnings just shy of $400,000.
O’Neill described the four-year-old mare as a ‘marvel’.
“She’s a beautiful filly,” O’Neill commented. “I saw Bivouac up at the Hunter Valley on the weekend and I was talking to the boys that she looks like an Exceed And Excel filly, which Bivouac is by, and being from an I Am Invincible mare, and they’re gold. She’s a terrific filly and she annihilated them today. I was a bit worried today against the older horses, but she won well.”
Considering her dominant win, Cavalry Girl is a strong contender for future races, and punters can find comprehensive betting markets on her next outing.