Two-year-old filly Dosh did her best to throw away the Ottawa Stakes with her waywardness in the closing stages but she still found enough to prevail and set herself up for her next campaign.
Dosh ($5.50 equal fav) looked certain to win before she veered out late and only just defeated Nice For What ($7.50) by a nose in the Group Three 1000 metre race.
Butter Blonde ($8) was a length away third.
Winning jockey Jordan Childs said the fact Dosh still won while hanging out only underlined her ability.
“She ran out and really shortened stride. I just wanted to keep her balanced and hit the line the best I can,” he said.
“It just goes to show that she’s got a lot there, is still learning, so all things going well she should be in for a good prep next time.
“She’s still immature and spots things and is a typical young horse and doesn’t quite know how to go straight.”
Trainer Grahame Begg wasn’t shocked by Dosh’s antics and said the debutante did the same thing when they took her to Moonee Valley for a gallop.
He said she was probably a bit better than his smart two-year-old filly from last season in Mildred.
Begg and Childs combined to win the 2018 Blue Diamond Stakes with Written By and that is the direction they will follow with Dosh, who will head to the spelling paddock after Thursday’s victory.
“She’s shown us very natural ability from the first day we started to do some work with her,” Begg said.
“She’s been very professional the way that she’s done everything.”
Begg said the daughter of Rich Enuff hailed from the same family as Group One winners such as Bold Promise, Dear Demi, Capitalist and Merlene so to snare a Group Three race had already made her a valuable filly.