The market pegged Friday’s Ned Dougherty Memorial Silver Apple 2YO Showcase Handicap as a contest of four and that’s how the 1000-metre sprint played out, with Gary Portelli’s first-up filly Showgals ultimately proving far too good.
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Starting as a $2.70 favourite fresh off a 12-week let-up, Showgals’ run was impressive, she found the lead at the top of the straight before holding off Bjorn Baker’s Lagarde ($3.80), Joe Cleary’s Hard Core ($4.90) and Scott Singleton’s Cyclonite ($4.10).
“She’s a great little filly. She’s tiny, but she’s got a big heart,” Portelli said.
“She was good, we’ve scratched her a lot lately after drawing bad gates and her owners might’ve been a bit frustrated with that but they came up from Sydney for this one, so it was great to see her get the result.
“We’re not sure where we’ll take her from here, we actually aimed her at the Wellington Boot but this year’s looked like a pretty good edition, a bit like a stakes race looking at the results there. We’ve won another race, so we’ll see how she pulls up before anything else.”
The victory was Portelli’s first of Friday’s Orange Gold Cup meeting, he picked up a second finish in Epiroc 3YO & Up Maiden Showcase Handicap (1000m) with All Too Good earlier in the day.
The two results marked a great homecoming for Portelli, who started his career as a trainer in Orange before moving to Warwick Farm where he’s based now.
“It’s always great to get home, this is where I cut my teeth,” the 2017 Golden Slipper-winning trainer said.
“Walking past the spot I used to tie the horses up every morning is quite nostalgic and it’s just a great little [city], a great place and it’s great to come back and get the job done.”
Jumping from barrier four with Jess Taylor on her back, Showgals pushed to the head of the field quickly but was reined in by Cyclonite at the 600-mark.
Many would’ve been forgiven for thinking it was a race of two come the top of the straight as well, the duo had pushed two lengths clear of the chasing pack.
But as Portelli’s filly, which scored a second career win in her third start, pulled away from Cyclonite, Lagarde and Hard Core loomed as well.
They both pushed past Singleton’s gelding, but couldn’t catch the flying Showgals, Portelli’s filly winning by a tick over half-a-length.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
