Within The Law (Lucky Vega {IRE}) started Saturday off with a bang for her Yulong Stud-based sire with victory in the R. Listed Inglis Banner at Flemington. The Bjorn Baker trainee had trialled twice leading into the event, most recently running a close second at Hawkesbury to subsequent $1,000,000 Inglis Golden Gift victor North England (Farnan) at the end of last month.
It was all about Within The Law on Saturday though, as the two-year-old filly took off with 50 metres to go and ran down Chisholm (I Am Invincible) to score by 1.25l, with Rohesia (Hanseatic), the first runner for her Rosemont Stud-based sire, battling home into third. Jockey Ben Melham praised the filly’s late burst of speed once he hit the button.
“A lot comes down to how they handle the big days, and she’s been well-educated,” he said. “She made significant improvement from her first trial to her second trial.
“She had a sweet trip. She just dropped in behind the speed, but was a little bit wayward when I first came out to make (a run), and just took a little bit of persuading. I put a couple around her backside, and she dropped the clutch and let down well.
“Nice filly – (she’s) going places.”
Baker was pleased to continue the success with long-time associates Darby Racing, who own the filly and a number of Baker’s other stable stars, including dual $5,000,000 The Quokka champion Overpass (Vancouver) and September’s Gr.2 Shannon S. winner Amor Victorious (Caravaggio {USA}).
“It’s great to come down here and great to win with Darby Racing,” he said. “They keep finding good two-year-olds. It’s very important to win these two-year-old races. Darby puts a lot of emphasis on it, so we need horses up and running.
“I just thought she had good fitness. She’d had two trials and she paraded really well today, so I had a little bit of confidence from that. It was great to get off to the perfect start in a big race, and big thanks to the sponsors Inglis.”
He harkened back to Melham’s success in the Gr.1 Golden Slipper S. for Darby, piloting She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) to victory in 2017.
“Ben Melham’s won the ultimate two-year-old race, the Golden Slipper, for Darby, so it’s good to get that combo back together.”
Within The Law becomes her sire Lucky Vega’s first Stakes winner in the R. Listed Inglis Banner at Flemington| Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
The first foal of Dundeel (NZ) mare Contract Signed, Within The Law was a $30,000 purchase for Darby Racing from the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, where she was offered by her breeder Yulong Stud. Yulong paid $30,000 in a September 2021 Inglis Digital auction for her dam, who is out of a half-sister to Gr.1 Meydan Dubai Golden Shaheen winner Sterling City (Nadeem) and Gr.2 Tulloch S. winner Tipungwuti (Fusaichi Pegasus {USA}). Close relations include Gr.1 Randwick Guineas-winning Kementari (Lonhro) and Silmarillion (Too Darn Hot {GB}), who won the Listed Atlantic Jewel S. in September.
Contract Signed produced a colt by Tagaloa last year and has returned to Lucky Vega this season. Within The Law is the second winner for her sire, after Vega For Luck (NZ) (Lucky Vega {Ire}) won on debut in New Zealand last month, and hands him his first Stakes win.
Written by Kit Gow for TTRAusNZ
