Resuming with an easy win at Sandown last month, Crafty followed with a sixth
to Zebulon at Flemington, but bounced back to win this 1600 metre feature with
a well-timed short head win."She did a good job today, I let her be where she wanted today and she hit the line strongly," said winning rider Mark Zahra.
"I think she will get further as she's a filly with a lovely temperament, so I think she will improve."
A $150,000 Inglis Easter purchase for David Redvers from the draft of Bellerive Stud, Crafty has had five starts for two wins and two placings earning nearly $100,000 in prizemoney.
She is a half-sister to Group III winner Lunar Rise and is the second winner from regally bred Sadler's Wells mare Spirited Dancer (IRE), an unraced sibling to three Group winners headed by Peintre Bleue, the dam of Arc winner Peintre Celebre.
Qatar Bloodstock will be hoping she can gain further Black Type in the spring as she has a stellar pedigree that would be at home in either hemisphere as a broodmare prospect.
Spirited Dancer has a yearling full brother to Lunar Rise that was sold for a modest $40,000 at Inglis Easter this year and she has a weanling filly to follow by Gio Ponti (USA).
She was one of 94 mares covered by Arrowfield's Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom (USA) last spring in his first season at stud.
Crafty is the second stakes-winner for Manhattan Rain, a Group I winning half-brother by Encosta de Lago to Redoute's Choice, that who stands at a reduced fee of $16,500 at Arrowfield Stud this year.
