Coeur Volante flying ahead of Bellmaine return

Listen

One-time boom filly looking to get back to winning ways at Sandown following lengthy spell 

Mike Moroney is hoping the benefits of a long spell will help former boom filly Coeur Volante (Proisir) reemerge as her true self as the mares chases black type in an early autumn highlight in Saturday’s Bellmaine Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Sandown.

Bearing the famed navy with gold lightning bolt of mega owner Rupert Legh, Coeur Volante exploded onto the scene in the winter and spring of 2023 with a winning hat-trick.

She claimed her second start at Sandown in June, then after a break produced an extraordinary finish to take the Scarborough Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), before an imperious 1.25-length victory in the Thousand Guineas Prelude (Gr 2, 1400m) – from the widest gate of 14 from that tricky Caulfield start.

Legh said the then three-year-old could be his finest female yet, even going so far as to say “I think she’ll be better” than he and Moroney’s four-time Group 1 winner Tofane (Ocean Park). Moroney was similarly enthused.

But the plot changed dramatically for the daughter of five-time winner Shanina (Testa Rossa), a $90,000 Karaka purchase from Prima Park’s draft for Moroney’s bloodstock agent brother Paul and Ballymore Stables.

Coeur Volante went into the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) as a $3.80 favourite but could manage just a 2.6-length fourth.

She was not disgraced behind three good ones – Joliestar (Zoustar), Kimochi (Brave Smash) and Skybird (Exosphere) – but Moroney now believes the lightly framed filly might have been itching for a spell, having been in work for some time while awaiting that race, run for the first time in its contentious new mid-November timeslot.

That timing, coupled with the fact “there’s not much of her”, led Moroney to bypass last autumn and aim instead for the black type of the Brisbane winter carnival. But that careful planning came undone as Coeur Volante disappointed in two runs at Eagle Farm.

She was fourth on a Soft 6 as a $4.40 favourite in the Helen Coughlan Stakes (Listed, 1200m), and let punters down again when sixth in the Dane Ripper Stakes (Gr 2, 1300m) as second elect. She was accepted for the Tattersall’s Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m) but such was her demeanour Moroney scratched her.

He ordered another long spell, missing the spring entirely, and will be hoping that strategy pays off on Saturday and into the autumn.

“She had a disappointing campaign in Queensland,” the trainer told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We just couldn’t put our finger on anything; she worked well up there, ate well, but she certainly raced below her best.

“The tracks were a little wet but she had rain-affected form, and her jockey [Blake Shinn] didn’t blame the tracks.

“We were going to go from Queensland into the spring, but on what she did up there, we decided we’d miss the spring and come back for the autumn.

“It was a tough decision. A couple of the owners did question me that it was going to be a long time off, but I just felt we’d have to rush her to get into the spring. She was eating well but she’d lightened off. We kept weighing her and she hadn’t put on any weight.”

Faced with that riddle, Moroney felt his best course of action was to do nothing – turn the obviously talented filly out for a lengthy spell and let nature take over.

He’s encouraged it’s done the trick, given her condition now and some promising jump-out form – an easy fifth of six at Flemington followed by an under-wraps second at Werribee on January 17, in which the outstanding Mr Brightside (Bullbars) was third.

“She’s going really well,” he said. “Hopefully, the time off is going to pay dividends because she’s come back really well. To the eye she looks great and I’m happy with the way things are going with her. She’s good in the coat, and not too light. There’s still not much of her, but she’s a lovely athletic looking girl.”

Moroney reports the now four-year-old mare has also matured mentally, though she still has the sass that marks many a talented female.

“She’s a bit quirky. We don’t leave her in the tie-up stalls on raceday because she won’t settle. She kicks out in the box all the time so we’ve got to keep her walking around,” he said.

“She’ll be on the fresh side for this race, and she’ll take a pony around to the start to keep her as quiet as we can.

“But she’s developed physically, and mentally she’s a bit better too. With the travel she’s done now, we’re hoping that’ll help her grow up and learn and improve those manners.”

A tongue tie added should also help keep her settled on Saturday. Moroney is hoping she’ll put herself in the frame for some major races, but is managing his expectations.

“The goal right now is to just get her back into form,” he said. “We’ll take each run at a time. She’s got Group 1 ability we think, at some stage, so if she can get back to that ability there’s going to be plenty of nice races for her.

“But for this race, I’d have to say my confidence levels are high, just by the fact we know how good she is. You can’t read their minds, but if she’s come back anywhere near her best, she’ll be pretty hard to beat.”

Coeur Volante, who has gate nine and Shinn in the saddle again, was a conservative $7.50 chance on Friday for the set weights and penalties Bellmaine, for which she has the minimum 56 kilograms.

As 13 mares seek to add black type to their breeding CV, the race shapes as a chance for a few less than heavyweight sires to have their name put in lights.

Favourite at around $3.50 is Charlotte Littlefield’s She’s Bulletproof (Shooting To Win), seeking a stakes win to confirm the potential shown by a six-length Valley victory offset by three frustrating short-odds seconds this campaign.

Then comes another four-year-old in Miraval Rose (Grunt), at $4.80 following her success in Flemington’s Kensington Stakes (Listed, 1400m) on New Year’s Day.

And Michael Hickmott’s exciting five-year-old Fancify (Niagara) resumes at around $8.50 aiming to consolidate the high promise of seven wins in 13 starts, capped by her black type breakthrough last start in Flemington’s Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) on Melbourne Cup day.

Miraval Rose is one of two runners for her trainer Grahame Begg, alongside the resuming So Glamorous (So You Think), who earned her second black type placing last start in Caulfield’s Summoned Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m). With So Glamorous expected to be favoured by longer distances into the autumn, Begg leans towards Miraval Rose on Saturday.

“She’s going well,” he told ANZ. “She’s coming off a last-start win in the Kensington Stakes, she’s had a month between runs to freshen up for the 1200 metres, and had a little tick-over jump-out in the meantime. She’s got barrier two and a good jockey in-form in Craig Williams, and I expect her to run very well.

“So Glamorous is one on the way up. She’s been placed at Group 2 and it’s certainly well within her to get black type, because she’s very genuine. I do think the 1200 metres might be a bit sharp for her though.”

Begg said he was a fan of Miraval Rose’s Yulong sire Grunt (O’Reilly), who has two stakes winners, the other being Group 1 victor Veight.

“I’ve got a couple of Grunts in the stable, and I think he’s going very well,” Begg said. “I do think they need a bit of time, but they are very genuine racehorses.”

Moroney said he was wary of Te Akau racing’s Quintessa (Shamus Award), who’ll carry topweight of 60 kilograms. That four-year-old Group 1 winner was a $17 chance on Friday, despite a first-up win over the distance last spring in Caulfield’s Cockram Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).

Her co-trainer Mark Walker, however, said Quintessa had been more wound up for that run after two jump-outs, and had had only one this time in after a brief summer break.

“I think she’ll improve on whatever she does on Saturday,” Walker told ANZ.

While Quintessa ran a solid fourth in last April’s ATC Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), Walker said he was now confident her best range was “from 1200 to 1800 metres”, which encompasses her top–tier success in Trentham’s Levin Classic (Gr 1, 1600m) last January.

He said the mare “might just have a light autumn and end up at the Brisbane winter carnival”.