Lee and Shannon Hope aiming unbeaten filly Scillato at Flemington on Saturday

An unbeaten filly could be the one to take a stable that spent three years in the wilderness back to stakes racing after competing at Flemington on Saturday.

A petite three-year-old filly could be the horse to spearhead the rebuilding process of a Group 1-winning stable with a win at Flemington on Saturday.

Unbeaten filly Scillato could prove herself to be the best horse trainers Lee and Shannon Hope have had since the pair resumed training after controversial cobalt suspensions in 2019.

The father and son duo spent three years on the sidelines after copping the most severe penalties as the first of several cases tried under new cobalt rules in a saga that started in 2015.

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These days, cobalt cases largely attract a fine to trainers that present horses to race with elevated levels of the element in their system.

Shannon Hope said the camp had no option but to rebuild after the tough period but said he would always be grateful for the support of owners such as Alpara Lodge owner Greg White for whom they trained their sole Group 1 winner Fenway.

“I’ve been very fortunate that they (Alpara Lodge) are not only a client, they’ve become a great friend,” Hope said.

“When we were out for three years, he kept in touch and they were one of the first people that had a horse with us come back straight into the stable when we opened up again.

“Life’s not easy, we had to regroup and start again and things are ticking along nicely again.”

Trainers Lee and Shannon Hope will test unbeaten filly Scillato at Saturday’s Flemington meeting. Picture: Racing Photos via Getty Images

The camp has had 31 winners since reopening for business but Scillato could provide the stable with its second winner at Flemington in more than six years in the Good Friday Appeal Plate (1100m).

Scillato has won her two provincial starts in emphatic fashion, scoring at Seymour on debut last month before successfully stepping up to Benchmark 64 level at Bendigo.

• Brad Waters’ tips, analysis for Flemington on Saturday

Scillato will tackle open three-year-old fillies’ grade at Flemington.

Hope said the American Pharoah filly would give away size to her opposition but would also give connections a guide to her talent.

Scillato remains unbeaten, scoring mightily impressively at Bendigo 👌

This filly might have a touch of class about her ✨ pic.twitter.com/UC6KTP0cNR

— Racing.com (@Racing) February 9, 2025

“She’s a really nice progressive filly but how good? We really don’t want to put a limit on it just yet,” Hope said.

“We’re just going through our grades with her.

“She’s not overly big but she’s got a lovely sweet head but we’d love her to have a strong constitution because she doesn’t eat a lot.

“She’s very petite but has got a bit of an aura about her.

“She’s got the walk, she’s just a plain little bay filly that will fly under the radar.

“How good is she? I’ll tell you at 2.35 on Saturday afternoon.”

Scillato shares the second line of betting with Just Like Gaby at $6 behind the unbeaten Sydney filly Clean Energy, who is the $3.10 favourite.