Autumn Ballet did nothing but thrive at last year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sales, and part-owner Nick Vass is expecting her to do the same on debut in the Black Opal Stakes at Canberra on Sunday.
The promising filly – who was a $340,000 purchase for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott – will line up as the $2.90 favourite across online betting sites.
All indications are she will live up to the hype after an impressive 7 ½-length win in a trial over 900m at Rosehill on February 27.
Vass is keeping his expectations modest, but there is no doubting the fact Autumn Ballet – by star sire The Autumn Sun and from Grisi – has all the physical and mental attributes of a potential elite-level mare.
“Horse racing is a funny game. We've got a chance to win it,” Vass said.
“It was an impressive trial, but it was only a trial.
“Now we're going into a Stakes race against some horses who have already had runs under their belts.
“I'm not overly keen on it, but you've got to be in it to win it.
“If we get some luck in running and a few others don't, you never know.”
Vass part-owns three Autumn Suns, the other two belonging to the Brad Widdup and Chris Waller stables.
They have all made a good impression on him, but Autumn Ballet could well be the pick of them.
“I was impressed with all the Autumn Suns – I've got three of them, actually,” he said.
“I like their physique, I like that some of them are quite mature, which this one is.
“I just like their nice balance. They've got plenty of bone.
“They seem to be easy enough to train and they're not too head-strong.
“I was surprised this one was so forward. Most of them seem to be coming on as better three-year-olds.”
Vass believes Autumn Ballet is ready for her Group 3 assignment worth $200,000 over 1200m in the nation's capital on Sunday where Tim Clark has the ride.
“I think she'll be ridden like she was before. He'll ride her slow, turn the corner and come home,” Vass said.
“He'll be a good judge of the pace and where she should be.
“But I think her best caper is a good turn of foot towards the end.”
Vass said Waterhouse and Bott had a similarly good impression of the filly at last year's Inglis Easter Yearling Sales.
“They thought she was a well-balanced filly with strong bone from a good family,” he said.
“Nothing fazed her at the sales, even though she was taken out of the box something like 60 times.
“They were quite impressed. They thought she was quite mature.”