Smart filly Unforgotten was back in winning form with a late surging run in the Group 2 $200,000 Chandon S Phar Lap Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill today.

Unforgotten, above, bounces back to the winner's stall in the Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.

Unforgotten, above, bounces back to the winner’s stall in the Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Chris Waller trained Unforgotten failed to beat a runner home first up when eleventh in the Group 1 $500,000 James Boag’s Premium Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on March 3 and was sent back to the barrier trials after being diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia.

Unforgotten was passed fit to run by the stewards after completing a barrier trial at Randwick on Thursday and was quick to return to the winning form that she showed at the end of her last campaign with a hat trick of wins.

Winning jockey Jason Collett settled Unforgotten ($9.50) in the second half of the field and the Fastnet Rock filly stormed home down middle of the track to run down Holy Snow ($5.50) with Hiyaam ($13) filling third spot.

The $2.90 favourite Shumookh set the pace up front for Tim Clark but the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained filly faded in the straight to finish fifth.

“Originally the trials were Tuesday and they were put off (until Thursday) because of the wet weather,” Waller said.

“She trialled. It was only over a short distance. It was enough to get her stimulated and make sure that she pulled up well. I said to the owners that we won’t make a decision until 7.30 this morning if she is running.”

“I thought we might as well run her today, ride her quiet and let her finish off. That is how she won her races in the Summer when she was starting to build that reputation and that is how we rode her today.”

“We were talking Vinery third up so she is on a two week stint now to that race.”

Waller will now prepare Unforgotten for the Group 1 $500,000 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 31 on her way to the Group 1 $1m James Boag’s Premium Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick on April 14.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.