More Strawberries shed her tag as arguably the country's best maiden with an all-the-way victory in the Group Two Furious Stakes at Randwick.The talented three-year-old had been placed in three of her previous five starts including the $3.5 million Golden Slipper and broke through in style, defeating Divorces ($14) by half a head with favourite Parables ($2) 1-1/2 lengths away third.With little speed on paper heading into Saturday's 1400m contest, trainer Gai Waterhouse advised that More Strawbe
More Strawberries shed her tag as arguably the country's best maiden with an all-the-way victory in the Group Two Furious Stakes at Randwick.
The talented three-year-old had been placed in three of her previous five starts including the $3.5 million Golden Slipper and broke through in style, defeating Divorces ($14) by half a head with favourite Parables ($2) 1-1/2 lengths away third.
With little speed on paper heading into Saturday's 1400m contest, trainer Gai Waterhouse advised that More Strawberries ($4) would be ridden in a forward position.
It proved the winning decision as Nash Rawiller rode a tactically brilliant race, controlling the tempo on More Strawberries before holding off the late charge of Divorces.
"She is not a maiden no more," Waterhouse said.
"There was no speed in the race and I said to Nash that you have got to utilise her speed.
"She has got out of the habit of jumping slowly and she began beautifully today.
"It was a decisive win and it was so lovely because she is such a good filly who had been placed at Group One level but had never been able to break through."
The daughter of More Than Ready will progress through the remainder of the Princess Series to run in the Tea Rose Stakes (1500m) and the Group One Flight Stakes (1600m) before a trip to Melbourne.
Waterhouse likened the filly to stablemate More Joyous in that last preparation she was still immature when contesting feature races.
"She was never there last preparation, she was a bit like More Joyous, she was very immature and just doing it on raw ability," the trainer said.
"This time she's got strength and has come of age."
Horses were struggling to make up a lot of ground at Randwick which didn't suit Parables who was an impressive winner of the Silver Shadow Stakes two weeks earlier when there was a hot speed up front.
"She didn't jump brilliantly like she did in the Silver Shadow, she was just getting going late," Parables' jockey Tim Clark said.
"She still ran well but the tempo was against her. It always looked like it could have worked out that way and that's how it was."
Divorces is headed towards a Thousand Guineas and Wakeful Stakes preparation in Melbourne and showed she had returned in great order with her excellent first-up run.
The performance of Rawiller on More Strawberries and also Kiss From A Rose two races earlier drew comment from trainer and former premier jockey Kevin Moses, who was an interested onlooker.
"Nash just stacked them up and rode them like horses used to be ridden 20 years ago," Moses said.