3 minute read
Tasmanian Oaks winner Still A Star ready to take on rivals in Vamos Stakes.
In Brief
- Trackwork rider confident the mare is ready to roll.
- Ryan says Still a Star is as ready as she has to be for first-up tilt.
- The nation will be watching.
While the Ladbrokes Launceston Cup is the feature race on the 10-event card in Launceston on Wednesday, it is fair to say the nation will be watching the Vamos Stakes over 1400m for fillies and mares with a lot more interest.
With Tasmanian mare Still A Star having just stormed into the $5 million All-Star Mile field courtesy of receiving almost 10,000 votes in Racing Victoria's popularity-based entry system, everyone is keen to see what she can do at her first start in a year.
Still A Star won the Tasmanian Oaks at her last start at this time last year, after which she suffered a lung infection that prevented her from embarking on an Autumn campaign in Melbourne.
With that way behind her, trainer Bill Ryan is confident she can run a huge race on Wednesday and justify her entry into the world's richest race over a mile.
She comes up against her archrival in Deroche who comes off a flop in Hobart after which she endured, according to one part-owner, all tests known to man, that revealed no abnormalities.
Horses can have a day off and that was obviously the case with Deroche as she is one of the best sprinting fillies to race in Tasmania in ages.
Still A Star also comes up against Victorian mare Ethical Solution who won the Bow Mistress and, according to connections, has not gone backwards since that win.
Still A Star has been working through trials and strong trackwork to be ready for her first-up assignment and the man who does all the work on top in trackwork, Patrick Dargan, is confident the now four-year-old mare is up for the challenge.
