Coeur Volante (+360) proved too strong in the Group 2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) on Saturday afternoon, with the Michael Moroney-trained filly announcing herself as a genuine contender for the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) on November 18.
It was an impressive victory for the daughter of Proisir, as Blake Shinn pressed across from the wide draw to find the one-one position throughout the 1400m contest.
The Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained pair of Oz Empress (+1300) and Azula (+800) ensured a genuine galloper, allowing the eventual winner to click through her gears, getting the better of her rivals at the winning post.
Two closers caught the eye at big odds to secure the minor money, as both Vivy Air (+2500) and Zourion (+2500) added some value for multiples players.
Coeur Volante was able to hold all challengers in the end, proving her win in the Group 3 Scarborough Stakes (1200m) on September 29 was no abnormality.
2023 Thousand Guineas Prelude Replay – Coeur Volante | T: Mike Moroney | J: Blake Shinn
Moroney was on course to see his filly first-hand, and praised Blake Shinn for his positive ride, before confirming the Group 1 Thousand Guineas will be the next target, but didn't rule out a run in between now and then.
“It was another very good ride but she flew the gates and I left it up to Blake, as you do with those good jocks,” said Moroney.
“He said that if she flew the gates she'd be positive and if she didn't he'd ride her back so she flew the gates and, for a filly that has had very little practice, she did a good job getting across because she had to go again to get there and I thought it was a great effort.
“The decision we've got to make now is if we give her a run ten days before on Melbourne Cup Day or whether we go straight into it (the Thousand Guineas).
“She'll tell us.”
Blake Shinn was glowing about his filly post-race and spoke to her adaptability from the wide draw.
“It was a great effort by my girl,” said Shinn.
“She's a really talented horse as she displayed at Moonee Valley and the job was going to be for me and the horse to overcome that draw.
“Very grateful to Mike and the connections to allow me to have that free rein to assess it from the start.
“That was really not my plan to do what we did but we called it as we jumped and she jumped probably half-a-length in front of the rest.
“I didn't want to take that from us. It is a difficult start to try and get right and we chanced our own going forward and fortunately we got in.”
Coeur Volante is now an equal +300 favourite with most online betting sites for the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) on November 18.