GUN MARE SNARES GROUP 2 TRIUMPH

The Danny O’Brien trained Paradee continued her strong run of winning form when taking out the Group 2 Peter Young Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

The four-year-old daughter of Epaulette had shone brightly at the Gold Coast over the Magic Millions Carnival in January scoring back-to-back victories on successive Saturdays, both over 1800m, and, yet again, she showed her liking for the 1800m trip.

She was more fully tested here though than at the coast, and she had to back up her ability with plenty of commitment in a pressurised finish … which she did … to extend that winning sequence in impressive fashion.

“She has had a wonderful preparation,” said stable spokesman Ben Gleeson.

“To go up to Queensland and win two races on the bounce and then to come back here and win. She has had a big preparation all of the way through the spring. She is very consistent. I don’t think she has missed a place in the whole prep. She is just a champion mare.

‘She came back from the Gold Coast and had a quiet time. Then we gave her a gallop, a week and a half ago now, and she just jumped out of the ground so we thought she is going as good as ever … if not improved more … and she showed that today by winning a good race and beating some decent horses.

‘it just shows what good quality she is.

“We are thinking about the Australian Cup now. It is a race that profiles well for her. It is in two weeks time and, after this race, if she pulls up well and shows us what she has for the last couple of months there is no reason why we shouldn’t go there.”

By Graeme Potter for Just Horse Racing