Brisbane beckons talented filly

Cheval D’Or has booked her passage across the Tasman for a crack at one of the Queensland winter carnival features.

The Waikato Stud-sold filly posted a richly deserved victory in the G3 Championship S. at Pukekohe this afternoon to cap off the bright start she has made to her fledgling career.

The daughter of Almanzor settled toward the back of the field before picking up ground 700 metres from home and she produced an irresistible finish down the outside of the track in the hands of Michael McNab.

“The biggest question mark was the track, but she’s a half-sister to (three-time Group 1 winner) Bostonian and he handled wet ground,” trainer Tony Pike said.

“She has been in great form all preparation and she was great again. She’s a really good staying filly and it’s nice to know she can go on such a rain-affected track and good ground as well.

“It’s six weeks to the G1 Queensland Oaks and we’ll just assess her conditions and see if she runs in the G2 The Roses before that.”

It was a first victory for Cheval D’Or, but she had showed her quality with a previous third in the G3 Manawatu Classic and has yet to miss a top four place in six appearances.

“She travelled really well the whole way, but she doesn’t have the same turn of foot in that going,” McNab said.

“I think that she is one of our better three-year-olds, she’s going the right way.”

Bred by Archer Equine Investments, she was purchased by The Oaks Stud for $420,000 out of the Matamata farm’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.