Twelve months ago, Coeur Volante was being prepared for the Tattersalls Tiara. While her Group 1 winning days might be behind her, there are still lucrative opportunities ahead.
The Proisir mare, who recently saluted at Sandown, will now compete for further prize money in the $150,000 open handicap over 1400 metres at Caulfield next Saturday.
The five-year-old is almost certainly heading to Widden’s stud later this year, where she is expected to be mated with Zoustar. Co-trainer Ben Hayes indicated that there is no reason she shouldn’t continue racing in the interim.
“It’s a chance for her to make some more money before the new breeding season,” he stated.
“She’s already a Group 2 winner and the only way you can improve the pedigree is winning a Group 1 and the only Group 1 left is the Tatts Tiara, which is next week and she’s not running there.
“She’ll probably race into spring.”
Coeur Volante won the Group 3 Mannerism Stakes (1400m) for Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson, less than a week before Moroney’s death in February last year. Thompson then took charge of the $90,000 Karaka yearling, who had earlier in her career won the Group 3 Champagne Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley and the Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) at Caulfield.
She endured a luckless fourth in the 2023 Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m), a race won by Joliestar.
Last year’s Tattersalls Tiara was her most recent Group 1 start, where she finished second-last in the field of 18.
The previous owners offered Coeur Volante via Inglis Digital last November, where she was sold to Widden and Bangaloe Stud for $500,000. In two starts since changing hands, she finished third in the Listed Bel Esprit Stakes before her winning performance over 1400m at Sandown on June 13.
“It’s all worked out well with her and she was a nice, impressive win,” Hayes said.
“It was really good to get her back in the winner’s stall.”
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