Flemington Group Two triumph for She’s Licketysplit

New Zealand filly She’s Licketysplit showed she will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Gr.1 Schweppes One Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on October 12 with a strong performance to take out Saturday’s Gr.2 Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.

Given an economical trip just behind the speed by rider Damian Lane, the daughter of Turn Me Loose cruised into contention early in the long run home at Flemington and looked to have plenty of petrol in the tank as she moved to the lead with 300m to run.

Lane got serious at this point as Typhoon Titmus and Tajneed issued their challenges, however the Andrew Forsman-trained runner had more than enough in reserve to draw clear and win by a neat length at the post.

Last season’s Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) winner as a two-year-old earned her ticket across the Tasman with a first-up victory in the Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) at Ruakaka last month and pleased her connections with a third placing in the Gr.2 Thousand Guineas Prelude (1400m) a fortnight ago at Caulfield where trapped wide throughout when making her Australian debut.

Forsman had originally planned a jumpout for his charge on Friday but after seeing how well she had thrived after her debut Caulfield effort he decided to run in the Edward Manifold as the perfect lead-in to the One Thousand Guineas.

“This race today wasn’t actually in our original planning and I thought we might just give her a jumpout on Friday with the blinkers on to give her a feel for them,” he said.

“When I saw just how well she came through that first race we changed the plan as this was on our back doorstep.

“The plan was always to have her primed for the One Thousand Guineas and it was job done today.

“She travelled really well with the blinkers on although Damian still had to keep her up to the mark as she was a little green in the straight.

“The best thing is that she is improving all the time and he (Lane) did say that she just feels better and better every time he sits on her.

“She has pulled up extremely well and is already back in her box here at Flemington which was the real blessing of running in the race today.

“She’s a Group Two winner in Australia now which is fantastic.”

Lane reiterated that the filly appreciated the addition of blinkers to her gear.

"The blinkers really helped her travel a little bit better, helped her corner a bit better and ultimately she was able to perform better," he said.

Bred by Dean Hawkins and good friend Nick Hewson, who are involved in her ownership with a group of close friends and family, Group One winner She’s Licketysplit is the best performer to date for exciting young stallion Turn Me Loose, who resides at Windsor Park Stud, where Hewson is the Nominations Manager.

The talented filly is out of the stakes-placed Handsome Ransom mare She’s Slinky who is from a family that extends back to Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup winner Classic Babe and her Gr.2 Waikato Cup (2400m) winning daughter Passchendaele.

Triple Group One winner Turn Me Loose, who was trained by Forsman and former training partner Murray Baker, will stand for a fee of $20,000 + GST (LFG) for the 2022 breeding season. – NZ Racing Desk