Comfortable victories in two of her three trials before commencing her racing career had co-trainer Paul Shailer thinking he had something special on his hands with Thorn Park mare Lady Le Fay -NZ.
Those initial high hopes were somewhat dashed when she couldn’t post a win in her first five raceday appearances which left Shailer scratching his head.
Any doubts that may have surfaced have been quickly dispelled as the four-year-old showed plenty of grit and a dashing turn of foot to capture her second win in a row at Matamata on Saturday as she set herself up for a tilt at higher honours over the coming months.“When we first got her going I thought she could be anything as she beat horses like Aspen and Delago's Secret at the trials,” said Shailer.
“She ran second to Lucky Feather at her first start and then it all went pear-shaped at her next two runs.“We tipped her out as she had developed chips on her fetlocks which needed to be removed and when we brought her back she didn’t really set the world on fire in the first two runs however we knew she needed blinkers and I was hoping that would turn things around.
“I actually forgot to get approval for them last time which nearly cost her the maiden win as she tried to pull herself up at the finish but with them on this time she really hit the line well.”Shailer believes the best is yet to be seen of the mare and is planning a spell in the next few weeks before embarking on an autumn campaign.
“She’ll have one more at Te Rapa on Sarten Memorial day and then we will tip her out for a few weeks,” he said.“I think she will be even better with a bit more time on her and I do believe she has the ability to be a stakes winner in the future so she is worth waiting for.”
