The $160,000 Listed BRC Bill Carter Stakes (1350m) at Doomben on Saturday had a short priced favourite in Hellbent filly Sunrays and she gave punters no cause for concern when powering clear for a dominant victory.
Trained by Kelly Schweida, Sunrays won her first three starts in a row at Doomben before tasting defeat for the first time when a distant second to Beadman in the Group III Ken Russell Memorial Classic run in atrocious conditions at the Gold Coast.
Back to familiar footing on Saturday and pitted against a strong field of up and coming fillies, Sunrays gave Tommy Berry an easy steer. She settled back in the field and forged away to win by two lengths over the Chris Waller trained Snitzel filly Chatterley.
“I said to Kelly and the ownership group before the race, I didn't know where I was going to be because it's very unpredictable with these lightly raced fillies stepping up in class,” said Tommy Berry.
“I thought I'd be fourth at worst, but the speed was really on for that first two furlongs.
“She's very versatile and she's got a great turn of foot and was just a different horse on this ground today.
“She's a bomb-proof sort of filly. She's very adaptable, and she put them to the sword quite quickly and still had a bit of a stargaze when she got to the front, so she's got more improvement left to come.”
Sunrays has won four of five starts earning over $270,000 and might have another run this prep to come.
“It was arrogant really at the finish. She got back a bit further than I thought she might, but you know, she looked like she was smoking and they were hooking along early, so you knew that she was going to be strong late,” said Kelly Schweida, who is yet to decide on what comes next for Sunrays.
“I'm not sure. We thought about the Sires (G2 May 31), but it was too close and then there is the Listed Show a Heart in a fortnight or do we pay a late nomination for the JJ Atkins, but I’ll talk to Pete (Moran, her owner/ breeder) see what he wants to do as he didn't want to do a lot this prep with her because she's done most of it from being broken in, so she's done a good job.”
Not offered at auction, Sunrays was retained to race by her breeder Peter Moran and comes from a family that has enjoyed much success racing in his green and white colours.
She is the first living foal of Hiccups, an unraced Fastnet Rock grand-daughter of Moran’s million dollar earning multiple Group II winner Staging, who was by Success Express (USA), a stallion that spent a portion of his long and many storied stud career at the former Moran owned Noble Park Stud in Queensland.
Not only an elite racemare, Staging was a remarkable producer leaving Group I winners Excites and Duporth as well as Group II winner Tickets and she was also the grand-dam of Champion South African 2YO Colt and dual Group I winning sprinter Delago Deluxe.
Hiccups produced a colt last spring by Written By and appears to be in foal to King’s Legacy.
Sunrays is the seventh stakes-winner for Hellbent, who is priced at $38,500 at Yarraman Park.
