News

Twlight Royale Set For Busy Spring

1st Jul 2013

Racing And Sports - Monday, 1 July 2013

The lure of a huge autumn bonus will not tempt trainer Bjorn Baker to be soft on Twilight Royale in the spring.

If she can win the Inglis Guineas next May, the filly will earn her owners a $2.4 million bonus for her collective performances in Inglis sponsored races.

But Baker will put that to the back of his mind as he aims Twilight Royale at Group One success in her upcoming campaign.

"We won't wrap her in cotton wool this spring," Baker said.

"She will be set for the Princess Series which ends with the Flight Stakes.

"We have also paid the entry fee for the Golden Rose which gives us the option to go there as well.

"I think she is a Group One filly and she has a big spring ahead so we can't worry about what might be in the autumn."

A $45,000 yearling at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, Twilight Royale has earned almost half a million dollars from her three wins and two seconds in her five starts so far.

And while grateful for the prize money the filly has been able to deliver for her owners, Baker is points to her win in the Group Two VRC Sires' Produce Stakes as the one that earmarks her as a potential spring star.

"She is a really genuine filly and a genuine big race performer and I think she is under-rated," he said.

"Everything she did in the autumn, she did on one preparation.

"She is tough and I think she will prove that in the spring."

The $1 million Golden Rose (1400m) on September 14 at Rosehill is the first Group One race of the Sydney spring.

The Silver Shadow Stakes (1200m) at Warwick Farm on August 24 is the first of the four races in the Princess Series for fillies which culminates in the Group One Flight Stakes (1600m) on October 5.