Ladies taking the riches

4 May 2021

THE quality of racing at Menangle – as well as our women trainers, has never more evident.

Two New South Wales pacers, both trained by women, plundered the riches on offer at Melton last weekend when Expensive Ego and Michelle Lee Mac brought two Group 1 features back to ‘the Premier State’.

Trainer Belinda McCarthy outlined some ambitious plans for the horse many expect to be our next superstar after Expensive Ego scored an easy win in the $210,000 APG final for four-year-old colts and entires, beating local stars Pacific Dream and Mach Dan in a 1:52.1 mile rate.

McCarthy has set her sights on the inaugural Rising Sun on July 10 at Queensland’s Winter Carnival, followed by their other features, the Sunshine Sprint and the Blacks A Fake – all run at Albion Park in consecutive weeks.

“He will come home now and do a few days in the water walker and we’ll then look for a race for him,” said Belinda.

“He’ll have one start somewhere before we go to Queensland, but that’s it.

“In between we will keep him pretty fresh.”

While Expensive Ego has a few hills to climb this season, four-year-old mare Michelle Lee Mac will be taking it easy following her win in the night’s other big feature, the $210,000 APG Mares Final.

Sent out as a $24 outsider, the Kerry and Dean McDowell-trained mare rated 1:54 to score a 6.7m win over Its Beaujolais and Its Ebonyivory after a faultless drive by leading local reinsman Greg Sugars.

“There’s nothing more exciting than that - that was a real thrill,” said the Wallacia-based McDowell.

“She’s going to a paddock now; we’ll be dropping her off on the way home.

“We’ll give her a fairly long break; she’ll have a nice quiet winter.”

Michelle Lee Mac, who had finished fourth in the NSW heat behind Pelosi, is now a two-time Group 1 winner after taking out the 2019 Bathurst Gold Tiara Final as a two-year-old.

“She's been unlucky in a couple of other Group 1 races. She's been knocked down a couple of times, so we hadn't seen her true form back then,” said McDowell.

“But when she's got it all together and clear racing, you can see that she can perform with the best of them.

“I lost my voice in screaming; I was screaming and jumping up and down.

“I think everybody heard me.”

- MICHAEL COURT