Bel Esprit filly City Of Song staked her early claims for a spring carnival assault with a hard-fought win in the Blue Sapphire Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.
Prepared by local trainer John Moloney, two-year-old City Of Song ($6) added a second victory to her four-start career record beating home The New Boy in the final stride of this year’s $100,000 Listed Blue Sapphire Stakes (1200m).
Joining a prestigious honour role of Blue Sapphire Stakes winners including the world’s highest-rated racehorse Black Caviar, City Of Song simply outraced and outclassed her rivals that included the Peter Moody-trained Highly Recommended.
Stablemate of superstar Black Caviar, who won the 2009 Blue Sapphire Stakes by an emphatic six lengths, Fastnet Rock colt Highly Recommended started the $2.80 favourite on Saturday but failed to reproduce the blistering form of his famous stablemate finishing four lengths back in seventh.
City Of Song, by the same sire as Black Caviar, has now started four times for two wins and two thirds earning just over $90,000 in stakes.
Moloney intends to send her to the paddock now ahead of a Group 1 campaign during the spring.
“She’s really good and she’s going to make up well in the spring,” Moloney said of City Of Song.
“There were some nice colts in this race and she was able to beat them, so hopefully she’ll make a nice filly in the spring to go into some nice races.”
The main spring aim for City Of Song is likely to be the $500,000 Thousand Guineas over the mile at Caulfield on October 12, a race her older sister the fellow Moloney-trained Music In The Park ran 12th to Irish Lights back in 2009.
Moloney also prepared City Of Song’s mother Songs Of Vienna and so has a nice association with the family.
“I trained her mother and she was a stakes winner and I had her sister before her and she won a couple of races,” Moloney said.
“She actually ran in the Thousand Guineas, Music In The Park, but this one is a bit better than her so maybe we’ll go better.”
On Saturday City Of Song was ridden by Jason Benbow for the second time after the jockey was aboard for her third to Mosheen in a 1000m handicap back in March, for which he was slapped with a careless riding charge.
“It was a really good win….she’s a really nice filly,” Benbow said of City Of Song.
“I think she’s going to be better the further she gets out to.
“She’s a little bit slow away so hopefully she can overcome that next prep and be right on the speed over 1400m and a mile and we’ll probably see the best of her then.”
