Viva Cherlinde

Beautifully French-bred filly Cherlinde made an impressive winning debut on the Ballarat Synthetic on Monday, July 24.

Trained by Tony & Calvin McEvoy, the three-year-old filly raced away from her rivals to score in the Global Turf Maiden (1400m).

Cherlinde had been nominated a few times over the past weeks, but the trainers showed patience and successfully chose today’s race to step her out.

Solid in the market at $3.80, Cherlinde, ridden by Harry Coffey, dashed away to win by 2-1/4 lengths from Lady Avenger ($17) with Kieffer ($61), a long neck away third.

The filly jumped well from gate two but was swallowed up by rival runners on settling down. Coffey had her racing comfortably behind the leaders but surrounded by other runners.

Turning for home he eased her out wide to obtain a run and Cherlinde worked through to go clear and establish a winning break.

Trainer Tony McEvoy believes Cherlinde will further improve with maturity.

“She showed she has got a little bit of class the way she travelled through the race at her first start,” McEvoy said.

“She was a little handier early than we thought.

“We thought she may not have that sort of pace, but she was there and wanted to be there.

“Her class did the rest.

“Big shout out to Cliff Little and Shane Carroll, they wanted to buy these fillies in France, and we bought two, a Camelot filly and this filly by Le Havre.

“They have been really patient, and I thank them very much for allowing these fillies to just take their time and develop.

“I think they might see the benefits.”

McEvoy said if horses were bred to stay, it was not expected they would show the speed Cherlinde did today.

“I think it is a real tick for her,” he said.

“We are coming into the spring, but I think we will continue to aim low and let her tell us where to go.

“She is a sweet filly, and very purposeful, and wants to please.

Winning jockey Harry Coffey was impressed by Cherlinde.

“I looked after her, then asked her late and she responded nicely,” Coffey said.

“I did like her, and it was good to see her come here on a race day, have the experience, and get the job done.

“There wasn’t a lot of turn of foot there when I asked her, but it felt like she will keep galloping and stronger as the distance gets further.

“Tony (McEvoy) told me to ride her like a nice horse, which were pretty simple instructions you would think but somehow, I had rump steak all around me but luckily enough a gap came.

“She responded quickly and got out, then the race was hers up the straight and she put them away.”