Taree preview: Highway prospect Sheila’s Fanta Sea has Golden Slipper-winning connections

Trainer Wayne Wilkes is hoping his lightly-raced mare Sheila’s Fanta Sea can keep on her upward trajectory when he steps out at Taree on Tuesday.

Taree runner Sheila’s Fanta Sea is the granddaughter of the 2008 Golden Slipper winner Sebring (pictured).

A fifth-generation direct descendant of the longest-priced Golden Slipper winner in history is short odds to one day make it into Highway company.

Sheila’s Fanta Sea can take another step along the path to potential Highway selection when she steps out at home at Taree in Tuesday’s Glen Milligan Country Boosted Benchmark 58 Handicap (1258m).

A granddaughter of the 2008 Golden Slipper winner Sebring, Sheila’s Fanta Sea boasts a second Slipper connection on her mother’s side.

That’s due to the presence of her fifth dam, Sweet Embrace, who still holds the somewhat dubious honour and distinction of being the longest-priced winner of the Golden Slipper, sent out at 40/1 in the 1967 renewal.

Sheila’s Fanta Sea will never have Group races named in her honour like her Ingham-owned ancestor but the best is yet to come from this lightly-raced and upwardly mobile miss.

The Wayne Wilkes-trained daughter of the hugely underrated stallion Sebring Sun won for the first time in what was a Super Maiden, and not just in name only, at her most recent racetrack appearance.

“I know Kris Lees has got a rap on the horse that ran second so it is not like she has beaten an ordinary field,’’ Wilkes said.

“That will give her good confidence going into this next race,

“You just see it in them, they sort of start walking prouder and holding themselves better.’’

The Sheila’s Fanta Sea form will get an early test on Tuesday when her stablemate Little Bubbles contests the opener.

The daughter of All Too Hard SPed at 1001/ when she finished a length-and-a-quarter third behind her much more fancied stable companion in that Taree Super Maiden on November 17.

“I rated her only a couple of lengths behind my horse that won the race,” Wilkes said.

“That’s where I put her in the standings and I thought Sheila’s Fanta Sea could be hard to beat in that race so I was probably more disappointed in Little Bubbles’ previous runs than that run her exceeding expectations.’’

Trainer Wayne Wilkes has some great chances at Taree on Tuesday. Picture: Bradley Photos

Far from a hundred-to-one pop this time, Little Bubbles is priced at $3.70 to win on Tuesday in a race where her stablemate Smart Lily takes on outsider status.

Bred and raced by Wilkes father, Reg, Smart Lily was bogged down by wet tracks at her first campaign and could find her way into the winner’s stall faster than many outsiders think according to her handler.

“She is probably a horse that is going to get out to a little bit further, that’s why she is starting off at the 1300m,’’ Wilkes said.

Her aptly-named stablemate and Taree-bound participant Volare is flying.

The recently recruited sixth-generation descendant of the broodmare gem Eight Carat has turned in consecutive placings in her two runs since swapping the NSW south coast for an address on the north side.

“She is a horse that came to me and was a bit strong in her races and we’re just trying to get her to relax and settle and hit the line and she is doing quite well actually,’’ Wilkes said.

Volare, like Sheila’s Fanta Sea, will be ridden by Wilkes’ daughter, Shae, who has made some enormous impact in her short time in the saddle.

“She won another race on Sunday,’’ proud father Wayne said.

“She just keeps going forward, always willing to learn and always looking to learn too, just not thinking she’s got to ride in races to win races, she is looking to improve herself all the time.’’

Mother-and-daughter team having Magical time

Racing’s most successful mother and daughter pairing, Karen and Madeline Owen, will combine at home at Taree on Tuesday hot on the heels of their beloved Fay’s Angel’s Country Classic assignment last weekend.

Trainer Karen and jockey Madeline’s shared tally of winners stands at 21 and they have the chance to add two more to the total via the Taree participants Calido Magic and Scotland.

Calido Magic is likely to start as one of the shortest-priced favourites on the card.

The chestnut was already a warm $2.30 top pick with TAB fixed odds in the Midges No More Maiden Handicap (1005m).

That’s hardly surprising given the Owen-trained gelding’s short but impressive CV of two seconds and a third as well as two genuine excuses.

“He hasn’t been helped much so far by (bad) draws,’’ Karen Owen said.

“This is one of the better ones (on Tuesday) that he has had so hopefully everything goes right and he gets a win, which is what he has been threatening to do.

“We think he has got good ability. He works really well and he is quite a fast little horse.’’

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 17: Trainer Karen Owen celebrates with Madeline Owen riding Fay's Angels wins Race 3 TAB Highway during "Apollo Stakes Day" – Sydney Racing at Royal Randwick Racecourse on February 17, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

So he should be given his breeding.

His sire is the Widden resident Supido, while his dam is the former handy mare Malea Magic.

She was trained at Taree by the local legend Bob Milligan and won five of her 20 starts, including a TAB Highway and the coveted John Carlton on day one of the annual Grafton Cup/Ramornie carnival.

The Owens will team up for a second time at Taree on Tuesday when Scotland leads the field out in the Fay’s Angel’s Benchmark 58 Handicap (1408m) named in honour of the Northern Rivers Champion Horse of the season.

Scotland failed to fire during his spring campaign but had some excuses when he contested far superior races than Tuesday’s mission.

“This is his first racing prep for us,’’ Owen said.

“Last start when he went to the Highway, that was just a disaster.

“He’s never drawn a barrier since we have had him and that was made worse having to grab a hold of him and take him back, which he resented and over-raced in a slow race.

“So we brought him back to 1400m and he’s drawn a (good) barrier so hopefully he can race where he would prefer to be, a bit more forward and without having to be restrained too much.’’

Originally published as Taree preview: Highway prospect Sheila’s Fanta Sea has Golden Slipper-winning connections