What Moparee lacks in height, she makes up for in courage, as she defied just about every horse in the race to run her down, to win the Spotless Plate at Flemington.

From the outset she brushed every challenge aside, what they threw at her was returned; she was never going to give in easily.

It wasn’t a top field by any margin, but that is what we have to expect at this time of the year.

Moparee is in the stable of Matthew Ellerton and Simon Zahra, they are enjoying a successful partnership, having an excellent strike rate with fillies.

The filly will remain in the stable at this stage; she is showing no signs of call for a break.

This is just her first preparation, after a couple of jump outs she won first up at Cranbourne, then finishing third to Tiarazou at Caulfield two weeks ago.

There was nothing wrong with her form, yet she was the drifter in the market, the preference of favourite went to Tumult, he started in the red and was the first horse beaten.

The Messsina Nymph, a first starter from the Tony McEvoy stable, won’t be long winning a race, if her debut is any indication.

Moparee - by Magnus in full flight

Tigerland stamped himself as quite a promising horse in winning the Thomas Sabo Plate at Caulfield.

His record now reads as three wins from four starts, in fact it should have read four from four, except for bad luck, at his first outing when second at Wangaratta.

He was always handy in running back on the fence near the home turn, but was having difficulty in obtaining a clear passage.

Those that took the short odds would have been concerned, but once the run appeared the issue was never in doubt.

There is quite some upside to the horse, lightly raced, fully matured and likely to get further than his win on Saturday.

The rising five year old gelding is prepared by Matt Laurie, a talented young trainer; he is on a roll at present with the smart filly, Mezeray Miss, in the stable.

There are no definite plans for Tigerland at this stage, it will depend on how he pulls up after the race and how well he does in the stable, he needs to improve his rating, but no risks will be taken with him.

He is by the little known sire, Mr Nancho by Southern Halo, his racing career was confined to the Argentine.

Tigerland looks the goods

Oriental Ruby has struck form with a vengeance, winning two of her last three starts at her home track, Caulfield.

With maturity she has developed into a useful mare and now that she has struck form she will be a force to be reckoned with in similar company, particularly at Caulfield.

She produced a big run to win as she was tailed off for most of race and never looked like winning until well into the straight, reeling off the last 200 metres in 12.30 secs.

Punters pinned their faith in Rugged Cross, she started favourite and looked all over a winner until Oriental Ruby appeared on the scene.

The mare is by Street Cry, he never lacked ability as a racehorse, as his record portrays he is now a high quality sire.

Oriental Ruby is trained by Gerard Moloney, he shares a stable block at Caulfield with his brother John.

The brothers relocated to Caulfield after the closure of Epsom, but their father, Jim, remained with the memories of Vain, among the greatest sprinters the Australian turf has known.

Grandfather, Gerry, trained most of his life at Warrnambool, where he prepared Belar to win the Grand National Hurdle in 1933, ridden by the stable jockey, Rupert McInnes.

Oriental Ruby winning well

Glen Boss was singing the praises of The Huntress after what was an impressive win in the Catanach’s Jewellers Stakes at Caulfield.

Coming off a win at Sandown two weeks ago she has continued to improve, shown by her effort at The Heath.

She will remain in work, at least for a few more weeks, as her next assignment is the $100,000 Inglis bonus race in a couple of weeks at Scone.

Whether she will measure up to spring form and get a mile is an unknown quantity, as both of her only wins have been at 1200 metres.

The win appeared to be pretty soft, on Saturday she settled well off the pace and was running strongly, giving the impression she will get further.

She is by the Patinack sire Husson, he was acclaimed champion two year old in the Argentine winning at his only five starts, plus creating a track record for 1400 metres of 1m 18.98 secs, which compares favourably with Australian times over that distance.

It may be interesting to see who will be offered the ride on the filly at Scone, Brad Rawiller gave up the ride preferring to go to Adelaide on Saturday.

Boss has quite an opinion of the filly, describing as her oozing in ability.  

The Huntress with Glen Boss up 

The Victoria Racing Club is to be commended for their persistence in continuing to frame the St Leger into their Anzac Day program.

There was a period when the race could have been in jeopardy, with small fields and little interest shown in the event.

In years gone by the St Leger was an inclusion in the four day autumn carnival, in some cases attracting small fields and declining interest in the race.

The decision to move the date back into the calendar has proved a success, as illustrated yesterday.

Hippopus shows a touch of class

The interest was there with the Gai Waterhouse’s ultimate winner Hippopus, and the New Zealand St Leger winner Serpent, inclusions in the field.

While Gai’s colt is not in the same class as some previous winners, Phar Lap, Hall Mark or Trivalve, he is never the less a promising horse with a definite future ahead of him.

He can stay; he can take up a handy position, when Craig Williams called on him there was no hesitation, he answered immediately.

The heavy track may have been against him in the A T C Derby, he was a different horse on top of the ground at Flemington, turn him out now Gai! he has a touch of class, the spring awaits him.

On the return to scale with Craig Williams