Cox Plate awaits Yankee Rose after Spring Champion Stakes win
AS if the Cox Plate couldn’t get any more mouthwatering, impressive filly Yankee Rose booked its ticket for Moonee Valley following its win in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
The David Vandyke-trained youngster will head to the $3 million weight-for-age race with no weight on its back and a good winning chance given the way it won at Randwick on Saturday. The three-year-old came from well off the pace to score the $500,000 feature and Vandyke is getting excited about its future.
“I said to the boys, this filly has never done (as) well like this leading into a race. She’s put on 5kg, eating up and I couldn’t fault her,” Vandyke said. “If she ran 2000m today I was confident it could win.
“It wasn’t about winning a Group one, I just knew this filly would struggle three weeks between runs for the Cox Plate, so I thought I better throw a nomination in because she’s going to get away from me.”
Yankee Rose became the first filly to win the Spring Champion Stakes and the daughter of All American has now firmed into $21 with Sportsbet for the Cox Plate.
“She was just that comfortable out there today,” Vandyke said. “Can’t wait to get down to Melbourne in two weeks. It’s been a fantastic ride with an amazing filly, she’s all heart.”
The win gave Victorian-based jockey Dean Yendall his first Group one victory and he will likely be considered to ride at the light weight in the Cox Plate.
“She gave me a lovely ride. David just said let her go through her gears. Once I got to the top of the rise I asked her for the effort and she hit the line well,” Yendall said.
“She’s trotting back nicely and calm. Looking forward to a couple of weeks time.
“Now I can be known as a Group one-winning jockey.”