Promising staying-mare Let’s Make A Deal will be given the chance to emulate her grand-dam Let’s Elope following the four-year-old’s impressive victory in Wednesday’s Guinot International Handicap (1600m) at Sportingbet Park Sandown.
Currently holding a nomination for the BMW Caulfield Cup, trainer Nigel Blackiston said the daughter of Red Ransom would be given her chance to follow in the footsteps of her champion ancestor who claimed the 1991 Caulfield / Melbourne Cup double.
“She’s a lovely filly; she’s always shown a lot of promise and she should have won the Group 3 race in Adelaide (SA Fillies Classic) but she cost herself when she laid-in,” Blackiston said.
“I think she can get to the top, whether it is going to be this preparation I don’t know, she’s just got to take the right steps.
“She’s in The Metropolitan and she’ll be aimed towards the Cups but it’s just a matter at this stage of getting her rating up.
“I’ve just got to find the right race for her, there’s a nice 1800 metre Listed race coming up in Adelaide and we might look at that.”
Settling with only three runners behind her in the early stages, jockey Michael Walker allowed Let’s Make A Deal ($26) to make steady ground throughout the race before bringing her to the outside at the top of the home straight.
After sprinting quickly to get within a length the well-backed favourite Castlzeberg ($2.60F) by the 200 metre mark, Let’s Make A Deal proved too strong over the concluding stages to score by a long-neck over Castlzeberg, with Captain Fancypantz ($4.60) a further half length away in third.
– Racing Victoria
