Arabian Summer’s Group success

Outstanding filly Arabian Summer picked up a deserved Group win with a courageous victory at Caulfield on Saturday, February 8.

Well placed by trainers Tony & Calvin McEvoy, Arabian Summer had amassed in excess of $1 million with four wins from eight starts but by running in restricted features had not been able to secure black type for her breeding page.

The filly set that right in the Group 3 Peter Le Grand Stakes (1100m) for three-year-old fillies at Caulfield.

Heavily backed to start $2.60 favourite, Arabian Summer was given a good ride by jockey Harry Coffey and finished best to score a head win from Tobeornottobe ($7.50) with Shadhavar ($21) a half-length away third.

The daughter of stallion Too Darn Hot began well from gate seven and Coffey had her positioned sixth in running with a good trail.

Rounding the home turn he asked her to improve, and she loomed up to the leaders and prevailed in a tight finish.

Trainer Calvin McEvoy is very proud of Arabian Summer.

“She is such a dream to train, this filly,” McEvoy said. “She has got the best attitude, she has learned it by travelling, always on her own.

“We love her!

“She hasn’t grown up much, but she hasn’t needed to. She is a smallish filly, but a beautiful filly and so well put together.

“Credit to our team, they presented her today in fantastic order and she finally got that Group race.”

McEvoy said Arabian Summer was a filly that could have a long preparation.

“We will consider the Oakleigh Plate as a goal.

“We just wanted to get the black type first and she now has it secured for her connections.”

McEvoy said the stable would also look at race programs in South Australia and Queensland as well as Victoria.

The win by Arabian Summer gave jockey Harry Coffey a career-best four city wins at a meeting.

“This filly has taken me on a great ride,” Coffey said.

“I have flown all around Australia riding her and was able to partner her in some nice two-year-old races and now we are doing it a bit older at three.

“This is what the game is about, finding horses like her.

“She is not big and every time I look at replays of me riding her, I wish I looked a bit more polished but because she is small, and her action is a little bit funny, and she has got a small neck, she is hard to look fully fluent on.

“There is not many that try harder than her and she has a massive heart – she is just a horse that goes to the races, tries her hardest and over the last 12 months she has been placed so well by the team.

“Today she was her usual self, tried her guts out.

“We had a nice run, a bit of cover down the side. I always felt when I pulled out I was going to catch them (the leaders) but to the second horse’s credit it fought really hard, and it took all of us to get past it.

“Even though we weren’t ultra impressive I felt like she did a great job and there were no slouches we were beating.”