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A bit of time and patience was the key to I Am Beautiful gaining her first victory in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1000m on Polytrack on Sunday.

The Swiss Ace filly did not really etch a lasting impression at her first two starts, the first one coming as a two-year-old in one of the juvenile series races, beaten 10 lengths by Rocket Star.

But trainer Michael Clements did not despair, just happy to back her off for a while so she can mature and fill out.

After a tough first-up run where she was trapped deep and eventually beat one home, she proved to be right on the money second-up.

Though she had to put in the hard yards to find the front from The Brotherhood (Chin Chee Seng), she eventually found the rails, got a breather midrace, and still had plenty of petrol left in the tank in the home straight.

Under Louis-Philippe Beuzelin's urgings, I Am Beautiful ($164) pulled away for what looked like a decisive break, but the earlier exertions eventually told on her.

The Brotherhood came narrowing down the gap noticeably, but just missed out by a neck. As a measure of the clear superiority of the first two, Lim's Unique (Syahir Abdul) took third place another four lengths away. 

I Am Beautiful  clocked 59.69 seconds for the 1000m on the Polytrack.

"She came up from New Zealand on the weak side. She had a couple of runs and we then put her away," said Clements.

"I think the break's done her a world of good. She's come back strengthened up, she galloped well last week.

"We knew she'd put in a better run today, but we were maybe not so confident she could win.

"But the favourite (Healthy Star), who is a very good horse, came out (late scratching at the barriers). She also had a good barrier (two), and I told Louis to ride her positive."

Beuzelin did exactly that and was rewarded for his plucky ride with a hard-fought win that takes him into the double figures at his first Singapore season.

"I was worried about her not having blinkers on today, but she came out well of the gates and she had to go forward," said the French jockey.

"The winning post came to us in time. I think she'll be a lot better with blinkers on."

I Am Beautiful has collected around $40,000 for the I Am Beautiful Stable with that first success from three starts.