Progressive mare Enchanted Heart has put herself in contention for a start in $1 million The Hunter after relishing the wet conditions to win at Rosehill.
Enchanted Heart Scores Consolation Win
Enchanted Heart missed out on a berth in the Golden Eagle but she has provided connections with a consolation prize at Rosehill.
The mare was second emergency and failed to gain a start in Saturday’s $7.5 million feature but Enchanted Heart ($3 fav) proved too strong in the Schweppes Handicap over 1400m.
She finished a half-length in front of the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Ellsberg ($5.50) with Nicci’s Fling ($7) third.
The Shamus Award mare is building a nice strike rate with six wins from 14 starts and trainer Kris Lees‘ stable representative Danny Greer is not ruling out a shot at The Hunter in two weeks.
“She’s putting together a really good record,” Greer said.
“Kris thought she would run a sneaky race in the Golden Eagle but unfortunately she missed out.
“She’s fourth up today so we’ll just keep trying to space her races.
“The Hunter is an option, that’s her distance range, but if not there might be something else.”
In a race decimated by scratchings, the four-year-old settled just behind the leaders and poked through along the fence under the urgings of Nash Rawiller.
Saturday’s win is her third on a heavy surface from just four attempts and her second in succession after she scored on the Kensington track earlier this month.