Outstanding mare Montefilia captured a third Group One success when she did best in a driving finish in Saturday’s Metropolitan Handicap (2400m) at Randwick.
“She did it a bit tough,” Payne said after the race. “She was three wide for most of the way.”
“I just left it to Hughie – I said, no instructions”
“She’s a very special filly. And she will go to the Caulfield Cup now – she gets the trip and she will have less weight – why not?”
Why not indeed. With three Group One wins already on her resume the Kermadec four-year-old mare deserves her chance at Caulfield’s most famous equine contest.
Payne took a shine to Montefilia at the 2019 Gold Coast Yearling Sale and he went slightly over budget to get her for $130,000 from the draft of Tyreel Stud.
“She was a beautiful filly, looked a real Oaks type and I just had to get her,” he recalled.
Montefilia is another great result for an all ladies ownership group – she is raced by Caroline Vincent, Kathlyn Docherty and Leanne Paligorov and her earnings have raced to over $1.76 million after just 15 starts.
“She is a mighty mare,” winning rider Hugh Bowman said. “I have had a wonderful association with her.”
“Twelve months ago we were unexpected winners of the Flight Stakes and she has gone on to achieve at the highest level since then and also run consistently.”
Bowman said he was proud to have joined the 100 Group One club and paid tribute to another former Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase when acknowledging the achievement.
“My association with Winx (has been the highlight), but she is in a different league all together. It’s hard to compare her to something else!”
Montefilia, who earlier in her career had won a Flight Stakes and Spring Champion Stakes at Group One level, is the star performer to date for her sire Kermadec.
She is one of two stakes performers produced by her dam, the Shirocco mare Bana Wu. The other is last season’s stakes performed juvenile Nice for What.
Bana Wu herself was a winner and triple stakes placed performer in the United Kingdom. She’s had five runners for four winners and a stakes placed maiden.
Montefilia was bred by the late Geoff Russell and was reared at Tyreel Stud who had the honour of selling her to her current connections on the Gold Coast.
