When you step out in a maiden with these formlines they may only be “betting on the margin”, but it’s still unlikely this margin would have been favourite.
English Riviera wins by daylight - image Pat Scala / Racing Photos
At her two-year-old debut back in January, Deep Field filly English Riveria (ex Second Time Lucky (NZ) (Any Suggestion)) started an odds-on favourite only to finish second to the colt Lofty Strike, which quickly confirmed the form with a win in the Gr.3 Blue Diamond Colts Prelude next start.
English Riveria also took her place on Prelude day, in the filles version, finishing third to Revolutionary Miss.
Revolutionary Miss subsequently went down by a nose in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond, while English Riveria hardly disgraced herself finishing 6th, beaten 1.4 lengths.
Therefore, reasonable to think that resuming in a Ballarat Synthetic Maiden on a Friday she’d start a $1.20 favourite, but the 10 length winning margin may not have been the honest expectation and would be more than a pass mark.
Trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, English Riviera was a $260,000 purchase for Mark Pilkington from the Vinery Stud draft at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
The filly holds a nomination in the Thousand Guineas, and there are 10 fillies running on Saturday also nominated – Click here to see them.
