Last shall be first
Last Girl Love broke her maiden status in devastating fashion at Balaklava on Sunday, February 13.
Backed from $3 into $2.10 favourite, Last Girl Love led throughout and raced away from her rivals to win the Calaby Real Estate Maiden (1400m) by five lengths.
The Tony & Calvin McEvoy trained three-year-old filly was ridden by Barend Vorster who kept her running giving no chance to her rivals.
Gosden ($2.15) ran second, 2-1/4 lengths in front of Angry Ant ($41).
Last Girl Love jumped nicely and Vorster rode her up to find the lead on settling down, but he quickly found several others happy to keep the pressure on.
Turning for home, past the 300-metre mark, the jockey asked the filly to extend, and she dashed away to win easily.
Trainer Tony McEvoy said the stable hoped for that result on debut at Warrnambool on January 20.
“Unfortunately, she got it all wrong at her first start, making too many mistakes” McEvoy said.
“We brought her across to Adelaide and today she was at her best.
“Barend seized the initiative early and rated her perfectly.
“I loved the way she lengthened over the final stages.
“We’ve always thought she had Saturday ability and she will get a chance to pick up some black type.
“There is a 1400 metre benchmark 64 Handicap at Balaklava on Wednesday, March 2 that would appear a nice race for her.
“Then, she could head into the Listed Morphettville Guineas over 1600 metres on Adelaide Cup day, Monday, March 12.”
Last Lady Love is owned and was bred by Peter Katelanis and his family.
The winner is out of the dual winner De Lago Mist. Her wins were the Group 2 Sires Produce Stakes at Flemington, and the Group 3 Breeders Stakes at Morphettville.