Manaal shows her class in Skyline Stakes victory
After having her colours slightly lowered by the Blue Diamond Stakes runner-up (Lady Of Camelot), Manaal (+100) has returned to the winner’s circle by taking out the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes at Rosehill.
The Michael Freedman-trained filly was well backed throughout betting and jumped as an even money favourite with top online horse betting sites, with her followers receiving a relatively easy watch throughout the 1200m contest.
The daughter of Tassort jumped well and held a position behind the speed before Tommy Berry pushed the favourite out four and five-wide on the home turn to make her run in the final 400m.
Once Berry released the brakes and she let down with her finishing burst, the race was just about over as she careered away to take the lead, with only Fly Fly (+700) taking ground off her in the final 100m.
Behind the top two, Extreme Diva (+1100) finished the race strongly, after settling near the rear of the field and picking her way through the pack.
2024 Sweet Embrace Stakes Replay – Manaal
Michael Freedman was on course to speak about his filly post-race.
“She is one of the better fillies around, whether they can stack up against the colts remains to be seen,” Freedman said.
“She did it Gimcrack day, it was a great run first-up against Lady Of Camelot and it was good to see her do that today.
“We thought we could come here and get the job done, we’ll have a think about the Slipper.
“She is so straightforward, she has got the perfect two-year-old mentality.
“She’s a great ‘doer’ at home, she is very relaxed with everything she does and her racing style is very relaxed.
“It’s exciting times now, but I’m excited for what the future might hold for her too.”
Tommy Berry has ridden Manaal at her three starts to date and he spoke highly of her post-race.
“She’s a filly that you don’t want to ask her a question because you’ll get a pretty good answer, and it isn’t always the one you want.
“She wears her heart on her sleeve. It was a good run today.
“I don’t know whether she’s a 12 or 1300-metre horse yet so I didn’t really want to ask her the question and then get her to try and relax.
“I rode her quieter today, got her to relax and banked on her turn-of-foot and her quality as well.
“Going into this race we thought she was a class above and the proved that today.
“If she went that way (towards the Golden Slipper), she’d be very competitive, and she feels to me that once she gets up further she might be better suited.”
Manaal is now a +1600 chance in the Golden Slipper futures market with online bookmakers.