Talented Excenia terrific

Excenia indicated she is a filly to follow with an eye-catching victory at Appian Bendigo on Tuesday, March 18.

Despite being caught wide throughout, the Tony & Calvin McEvoy-trained two-year-old finished powerfully to win the Golden Square Hotel Maiden (1100m).

Ridden by Michael Dee, the filly jumped fairly from the extreme outside gate of 10 but drifted back caught three wide.

He was able to get a trail around the home turn before bringing her wide and Excenia ($5.50) lengthened to eventually win, eased down by three-quarters of a length from Immerse ($5) with Lady Lonsdale ($10) a similar margin away third.

The daughter of stallion Exceed And Excel finished midfield on debut at Flemington in Listed company on March 1 and looked more comfortable today despite covering ground.

Trainer Tony McEvoy said Excenia would continue to improve with age and racing.

“We thought she had more speed than she showed at Flemington,” McEvoy said.

“She was at her top throughout that day. I was hoping Mick (Dee) would ride her patiently today.

“His Plan A, with the rail out nine metres, was to go forward but she had to jump clean and when she didn’t, he went back to Plan B, which the great jockeys do.

“Excenia’s mother was a star for me and could have been a racetrack star but just didn’t have the temperament.

“Thanks to Brendan and Jo Lindsay from Cambridge Stud, they purchased this filly at the sales.

“She is a really talented filly, still immature as you can see in her frame, she still has more to come, but she has got talent.

“Being owned by breeders, we placed her very aggressively first up, but she didn’t get it right.”

Winning jockey Michael Dee said Excenia would benefit from today’s win.

“Usually she has good natural speed,” Dee said.

“Which she did today, if I had really pushed the button she would have got there.

“She has really taken everything in her stride. From her first start to today, she is a much more relaxed filly.

“I think she is going to appreciate being ridden a bit off them and showing her turn of foot which she did today.

“She has definitely got good ability, we know that, and she was in a strong race first up.

“Excenia was well placed today by the team bringing her back to a softer maiden and getting the chocolates.

“It will give her good confidence going forward.

“She has got good ability and tries super hard.”