A pair of three-year-old fillies stole the show at Morphettville on Saturday, providing the perfect backdrop to the upcoming Racing SA Carnival.
Mileva upstaged 2019 Blue Diamond winner Lyre to win the Listed Manihi Classic, before Ecumenical returned to form to claim the inaugural Clare Lindop Stakes.
Mileva’s win provided rider Anna Jordsjo with the biggest win in her career and fittingly it came in combination with her favourite horse, trained by her biggest supporters, Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray.
The daughter of Headwater has always carried a boom since she was crunched in betting on debut, and Clarken – who took Miracles Of Life to Blue Diamond glory – was rapt to claim a feature race in combination with his partner.
“Oopy and Anna do all the work with this filly and that’s a massive thrill for us,” Clarken said.
“It’s taken a little bit of time for her to grow up; the addition of the tongue tie has made the difference.”
And the stable hasn’t ruled out chasing even bigger races in Adelaide in the coming months with the Group 1 Sangster Stakes a possible target.
“We’ll probably go to Redelva and what we do after that we will work it out,” Clarken said.
It’s been somewhat of a slow burn for Mileva after shin soreness put the brakes on her two-year-old campaign.
But Clarken said a trip to Melbourne last September, where she finished down the track at Moonee Valley, had proven invaluable to the horse’s maturity.
“She’s had her quirks, but to get black type, it makes her quite a valuable filly,” he said.
Jordsjo was unable to hide her delight claiming a Listed victory aboard a horse so special to her.
“I love her so much,” Jordsjo said.
“She’s definitely my favourite horse.”
And the 25-year-old couldn’t thank Clarken and MacGillivray enough for the support she received during what can be a difficult time for jockeys at the end of an apprenticeship.
“They definitely made my transition to a senior very easy…” Jordsjo said.
“To get my first black type on my absolute favourite horse, for my favourite supporters, it’s probably the best day I’ve had on the racecourse.”
It was also a landmark day for emerging apprentice Mount Gambier-based Jacob Opperman, who rode his first metropolitan treble.
Opperman saluted on Royal Mile in race three for trainer Lee Creek, then made it a double aboard tough stayer Farooq in race five for Naracoorte trainer Sue Murphy.
He landed the final leg of his treble with a perfect ride in the last race of the day on Sam Burford’s Oh Mo.
Just 30 minutes later fellow Murray Bridge-trained filly Ecumenical stamped herself as a serious Australasian Oaks contender with a gritty win in the Clare Lindop Stakes.
Ridden on speed by Jessica Eaton, the Mick Huxtable-trained filly turned around a disappointing first-up effort, showing plenty of fight in the process to hold off the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Perfect World.
It was another milestone for Eaton, being her first city success as a senior rider.
Richard and Chantelle Jolly also have plenty of reasons to be excited ahead of the carnival with two-year-old Karacasu an impressive winner early in the day.
He was the first leg of a Saturday double for the stable. Their second winner came more the 700km away on the state’s west coast when Korodon won the Streaky Bay Cup with Angus Chung in the saddle.
And at Oakbank on Sunday local horseman Nick Smart claimed the opening SA jumps race of 2021 when Mr Coyne scored with Tom Ryan in the saddle.
It was a big day for Ryan, who won both jumping aces and the highweight. The latter two winners were both trained by Grant Young.
Image: Anna Jordsjo and Mileva after winning the Manihi Classic at Morphettville on Saturday.
