Chris Waller’s glamour filly From Within is the new favourite for the $2m Jeep Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast on Saturday following the barrier draw at the Surfers Paradise beachfront this morning.
Hugh Bowman, above, will ride From Within in the Magic Millions 2yo Classic at the Gold Coast. Photo by Daniel Costello.
From Within is now the $3.60 top pick at Ladbrokes.com.au and has leapfrogged Gold Coast filly Houtzen who is now the second favourite at $3.70.
From Within drew favourably at barrier seven and looks likely to jump from gate four after three of the five emergencies drew inside of her while the Toby Edmonds trained Houtzen drew barrier twenty-one in the original drew and will jump from the outside gate when the final field is reduced to sixteen runners on Saturday morning.
Houzten found herself at the top of the market order following her mind blowing performance to win by four and a half lengths easing down in an 1100m 2yo Handicap on her home track at the Gold Coast last Saturday and even though she displayed plenty of gate speed last start to claim the lead with ease, the job this week will be slightly harder from barrier sixteen.
From Within had her final Magic Million 2yo Classic gallop at Rosehill this morning with race jockey Hugh Bowman aboard before heading to the Gold Coast tonight and Waller was very pleased with the effort.
“Everything went to plan. Hugh Bowman was aboard,” Waller told RSN’s Racing Ahead.
“She is still at Rosehill and galloped out on the course proper there. Hugh was very happy with the way that she felt and the way that she worked.”
“It wasn’t a tough workout, she had a more serious workout on Saturday morning with an older horse and also pleased us with that gallop.”
“Providing she eats up well through the day she will head up there late tonight, cooler obviously than the day. It is pretty hot at the moment in Sydney and travelling them on hot temperatures is not perfect so hence the reason for leaving so late and she will get there earlier in the morning at the Gold Coast.”
The stable reported that From Within galloped with stablemate Religify on Saturday morning and comfortably accounted for the well performed older galloper but Waller is still well aware of the tough task the filly is facing on Saturday at only her send race start after winning on debut over 1100m in a 2yo Plate at Canterbury on December 31.
“It is a big task ahead, only her second race start in a high pressure race at that,” Waller said.
“So we are prepared for anything but we do know that we have a good filly on our hands.
“The Magic Millions is going to be completely different race to her race debut. They will run and charge for the first 800m and that will call on her reserves a lot earlier than that we would have seen in her trials and her race debut.”
Waller expects From Within to show natural improvement from her first race start and is looking forward to seeing her race in the rich Sydney Autumn Carnival.
“Race experience is very good for a horse and they will improve especially if you have speed to back it up and she has that,” Waller said.
“I thought she looked a bit soft going into her first run so she is a bit fitter and she will obviously be smarter.”
“All in all she is a very good filly and if she flies the flag on Saturday at her second race start, she is a serious horse to be following in the Autumn and hopefully she will be true to it in races like the Slipper.”
The Chris Munce trained Ours To Keep is on the third line of betting at $7 after drawing perfectly at barrier four in the original draw and will be looking to keep his winning record intact after recording a hat trick of wins with his victory in the Group 3 $200,000 Lilivale Stud B.J. McLachlan Stakes (1200m) at Eagle Farm on December 31.
Munce will also saddle up unbeaten filly Champ Elect who has drifted to $31 after coming up with barrier seventeen at the barrier draw.
Lindsay Park’s Madeenaty at $7.50 and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Invincible Star at $8.50 are the only other two runners under the $10 mark for the Magic Millions 2yo Classic.
