Royal Dress in the spotlight

Royal Dress stamped herself as a filly of the future with an impressive debut win at Morphettville Parks on Friday, July 30.

The Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained Royal Dress sat wide but proved too strong for her rivals in the Quayclean Maiden (1000m) for two-year-olds.

Ridden by Barend Vorster, the daughter of I Am Invincible ($2.30 fav) won by 1-1/4 lengths from Hanabi ($4.60) with Stars The Limit ($6), 1-1/2 lengths away third.

The filly began well and was able to share the lead early, but Vorster was happy to sit wide on the rain-affected track.

Turning for home he allowed Royal Dress to extend, and she bounded to the lead and ran well through the line to score comfortably.

Trainer Tony McEvoy was very impressed by the victory.

“It is a tough ask at your first start to cover ground and win,” McEvoy said.

“I think there was a lot of merit in that performance.

“Early on we had a good opinion of her early in the season.

“Then, one day she tossed her rider and galloped back to the stalls but slipped on the asphalt opening up a hind joint.

“It required some surgery and set her back for a few months.

“Thanks to Rob Archibald and Tom Magnier from Coolmore who were happy to give us time to get the filly right.

“She was really good today and I believe she has a promising future.”