Former West Australian trained unbeaten filly Perfect Reflection will step out for the first time in Melbourne in the Group 3 $150,000 The Vanity (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday.
Crown Oaks winner Jameka,. above, is one of the man rivals for Perfect Reflection in The Vanity at Flemington. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
Perfect Reflection, the winner of all her five race starts in the West, is now prepared by Melbourne Cup winning trainer Darren Weir, and is one of fourteen fillies nominated for the Vanity.
Also among the nominations for The Vanity is the Ciaron Maher trained filly Jameka, the winner of last Spring’s Group 1 $1m Crown Oaks (2500m) at Flemington.
Perfect Reflection was prepared by one of Perth’s leading trainers Grant Williams who took the More Than Ready filly from a debut win in a Pinjarra Maiden to win the Group 1 $1m Kingston Town Classic (1800m) at Ascot in Perth on December 5 at her first preparation.
Weir was then given the job of preparing the filly for the Melbourne Autumn Carnival with the Group 1 $750,000 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 5 high on the agenda and he is very happy with her progress.
The premiership winning trainer said that he took Perfect Reflection to Camperdown for a trial and he was happy with the result.
‘’She had a nice hit-out and she’ll have another strong gallop with Palentino and that’ll have them both ready to run on Saturday,’’ Weir said.
‘’She’s a very nice filly and I’ve been really pleased with the way she’s coming on.’’
Among Perfect Reflection’s other wins were the Listed $100,000 Crown Perth Belgravia Stakes (1200m) and the Group 3 $200,000 Breast Cancer Care- W.A. Champion Fillies Stakes (1600m) both at Ascot prior to her win in the weight for age Kingston Town Classic.
Jameka has also been given a barrier trial in preparation for her return to the race track and finished fourth over 800m at Cranbourne on February 8.
Maher is also heading Jameka towards the Australian Guineas but she will come into her own when the distances get longer later into the Autumn Carnival with the Caulfield trainer intending to head to Sydney for either the Group 1 $2m BMW Australian Derby (2400m) or the Group 1 $1m Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick over ‘The Championships’.
“She will go second-up into the Australian Guineas here and then there is a bit of a crossroads for her,” Maher said.
“She can either take on the boys in Sydney or head towards the Derby or if they look a bit strong we can take the fillies route and head to the Oaks.”
The Vanity nominations: Jameka, Perfect Reflection, Sacred Eye, Don’t Doubt Mamma, Italy, Alaskan Rose, Labdien, Egypt, Make Her Own Whey, Smokin’ Bella, Stylemaker, Euro Angel, Daniela Rosa, Miss Polly Beat.
