Erratic filly I Am Velvet still unbeaten after winning VOBIS Gold Ingot at Caulfield
Promising filly I Am Velvet maintained her unbeaten record with victory in the VOBIS Gold Ingot at Caulfield but did her best to keep her key rival in the contest.
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I Am Velvet was adamant she would do things the hard way when maintaining her unbeaten record at Caulfield.
The Phillip Stokes-trained filly won her first two starts on the turf and synthetic tracks at Pakenham before stepping up to city class in the $175,000 VOBIS Gold Ingot (1400m).
The two-year-old always had the measure of the $1.75 favourite Dom in the straight but I Am Velvet ($3.30) refused to go straight, constantly wanting to lay in on the runner-up in the last 200m.
Jockey Daniel Stackhouse earned his riding fee from the home turn as the I Am Immortal filly did her best to keep the runner-up in the contest with her wayward behaviour.
I Am Velvet goes forward to take the first at Caulfield! 💪@DanielStack33@pstokesracingpic.twitter.com/GR4sljD5Zs
— 7HorseRacing 🎠(@7horseracing) July 27, 2024
However, Stackhouse said I Am Velvet had something in hand on the line despite her issues.
“It’s always difficult when they are hanging that badly,” Stackhouse said.
“I didn’t want to be in the stewards’ room so I just had to make sure she stayed off Dom all the way up the straight.
“She didn’t make it easy for herself.
“To her credit, she won the race with ease doing it like that so she’s got a lot of improvement to come.”
Stokes had tried a near side bubble cheeker on I Am Velvet to correct her erratic tendencies without success at Caulfield.
He said he would continue to experiment with various gear on the powerfully-built filly but Stokes maintained I Am Velvet would become a stakes filly during her three-year-old season.
“The hanging in is a problem,” Stokes said.
“We’ll tinker with some more headgear and try to get her racing in a more tractable style.
“I think she’s definitely a stakes filly in the making but we’ve just got to rectify a few problems.
“She ran the 1400(m) out strong so that’s a tick and she’s an exciting filly going forward.”
Originally published as Erratic filly I Am Velvet still unbeaten after winning VOBIS Gold Ingot at Caulfield
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