WITH her famous sibling enjoying a spell, Fiore Stride grabbed the opportunity to bask in the spotlight at Menangle yesterday.
By Art Major from Under The Mattress, the filly is a half-sister to Inter Dominion champion Smolda.
Bred in Victoria, Smolda was purchased by clients of Mark Purdon through the Ladbrokes Australian Pacing Gold Sales – the manner in which Fiore Stride was bought before heading to trainer Craig Cross.
That sequence led to Fiore Stride capturing a heat of the Ladbrokes APG race series, where she ironically beat a member of the Purdon stable!
Driven by ace reinsman Luke McCarthy, Fiore Stride enjoyed the run of the race in the one-one before dashing to a two-and-a-half metre win from Just Makemine Diamonds, with Black Silhouette six metres away third.
“She’s a lovely filly, which is getting better all the time,” Cross said. “We weren’t overly confident of beating Mark’s filly, which was a $1.10 favourite, but it worked out in our favour.
“She’s got her share of high speed and will continue to improve as she gains experience.
“She won’t do much between now and her semi-final, just be kept ticking along at home.”
With the final 800 metres run in 56.7 seconds, the two-year-old covered the mile in 1:55.1, with her time four-tenths of a second slower than Callmequeenbee in the following qualifier.
Trained and driven by Mat Rue, the daughter of Shadow Play caused a minor upset when accounting for Prophesy and Art Treasure.
Further north, well-bred youngster Fame Assured finished along the sprint lane to annex her APG heat for trainer-driver Grant Dixon.
Rating 1:57.7 for the 1660-metre trip, the daughter Mach Three scored from Bronski Mackenzie and Darby Brights.
