Fillydelphia Spreads Wings

Fillydelphia and Care Bear overcame a last start nightmare to finish first and third respectively in the www.menofleague.com.au QTIS 3YO Handicap 1615m at Doomben on Saturday, August 21.
Fillydelphia loomed up ominously in the straight at Eagle Farm two weeks prior only to be at the end of a domino effect from inside horses, dislodging apprentice Mitchell Speers in spectacular fashion.
Speers toppled into fellow apprentice Luke Rolls, onboard Care Bear, who also crashed to the ground.
The fall left Speers and Rolls motionless on the turf for moments and both jockeys were transported to hospital for precautionary reasons.
The Robert Heathcote-trained Fillydelphia was obviously mentally ready for redemption at Doomben on August 21 repaying punters who sent out the hot race favourite at $1.35.
Heathcote knows his filly has much more to offer her connections, despite a rapid maturing over the past three months.
"As Larry said there is a very nice race in this horse," the trainer said.
"I've said it in the past, any horse, be it Fillydelphia, Buffering or Tabulate, they've all got to have this quality, the ability to change gear and sprint. That is essential in good horses…and that's what this filly seems to have.
"She is a really good example of how a young horse can mature. She was unplaced at her first two runs, then ran third in a Maiden in town, and then second in a Maiden at Ipswich.
"All of a sudden she could have conceivably won five from five all in town." A good example of patience and let the ability come out!
Jockey Larry Cassidy was reassigned to the three-year-old filly after returning from a holiday and looked in control immediately from barrier three.
Fillydelphia by Bianconi, out of the Encosta de Lago mare Edel Vanessa, was assigned 58 kilograms as the top weight but looked untroubled settling outside and back of the leader in the slowly run race.
Avoiding trouble, Cassidy had the filly purring with 300 metres to travel and let down mightily to post a comfortable four length victory for Heathcote and Tingalpa owners Franz Wolber and Pauline Stephens.
"She's flying and there's no doubt she's a quality filly.
"The way the race was run on Saturday certainly played into Larry's hands. The times clearly showed that they walked early in the race and then it was a no-brainer that she would sprint away and won by four lengths."
This marked win number four from nine starts for Fillydelphia after the three-year-old took her time to mature early in her racing career.
Heathcote ruled out the possibility of heading to Melbourne's Spring Carnival, looking more favourably to the Queensland Winter Racing Carnival in 2011 after a healthy spell for Fillydelphia in two weeks time.
The three-year-old could be aimed at the Group 1 Queensland Oaks if her trainer believes she will handle the 2400 metre distance but even if she doesn’t stay, there are many suitable 3 year old filly races for her.
Finishing in second at Doomben was Random Orbit (Jim Byrne), half a neck in front of Care Bear (Chris Munce) racing at $31.
Despite finishing second on four occasions, with one win to the colt's name, Random Orbit boasts $112,000 in prizemoney greatly assisted by his QTIS and QTIS 600 registration which has attributed $48,000 in added stakes.
Heathcote's three-year-olds are firing at the moment as Buffering impressively began his southern campaign in Sydney, finishing second in the Group 3 Up and Coming Stakes.
"When the marble fell and showed barrier 16 I knew that would be a formidable hurdle to overcome, particularly when you are stepping to the upper echelon of three-year-olds," Heathcote said.
"You see the mighty stables of Darley and Waterhouse and they're hard to beat. Our bloke beat them all off bar one. I was ecstatic with the quality of his run!
"That run on Saturday has determined that I am definitely taking him to Melbourne for the Danehill Stakes."
The Eagle Farm trainer is happy with his next Group 2 assignment for Buffering under set weights raced over the 1200 metre straight at Flemington.
RACING Queensland web news: Ross Dowd - August 23