$1m race lures Chris Munce filly Devine Force into showdown with Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot at Randwick

Chris Munce wants to test his filly Devine Force against Sydney opposition before aiming up at a new $1m Magic Millions race under lights next month.

Champion jockey turned trainer Chris Munce admits he is up against it taking on a Golden Slipper winner on her home deck, but admits the lure of $1 million and a shot at black-type is too hard to resist for his filly Devine Force.

The Cosmic Force filly was well beaten in her return to racing at Eagle Farm last week, but Munce said it was just the hitout she needed to justify a trip south in the Group 2 $1m Percy Sykes Stakes (1200m).

Munce admits he didn’t expect to run into Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot when he first hatched the plan to travel to Sydney, but is ready to aim up after drawing barrier three.

“I had no idea what to expect with this filly,” a frank Munce said.

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“I sent her down there last Wednesday because she can get a bit hot and hard to handle, I didn’t know how she would settle in and all those things.

“She has done really well and she galloped there nicely on Tuesday morning. She has taken it in her stride beautifully.”

Comfortably winning her first two starts pre-Christmas, Devine Force was one of the standout Queensland two-year-olds before Munce elected to back off.

Munce said he is happy to disregard the $101 odds offered by bookies, saying she is up to this level should she bring her A-game.

Devine Force has been in Sydney for more than a week in preparation for Saturday. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“At her best, I think she is up to them,” he said.

“Can she beat the Golden Slipper winner? I don’t know, it is a pretty long bow to draw.

“She needed the gallop first up because she has been off the scene a while and she has improved since then, which she had to do to justify getting on the truck down there.

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“It’s more the fact that there is no real black-type racing up here for the fillies over the winter that really attracted me to keep her here for that.

“It is a black-type race worth a million dollars and she is fit enough to go down, so we thought we’d roll the dice.”

Munce has circled the new Magic Millions National 2YO Classic worth $1 million as another possible option for Devine Force once she returns from Sydney.

The race will be run on May 24 on a Friday night under lights at the Gold Coast before the Group 1 Doomben Cup the following day.

Originally published as $1m race lures Chris Munce filly Devine Force into showdown with Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot at Randwick