Written by Paul Vettise
Dame Giselle (I Am Invincible) remained unbeaten this preparation and in the Princess Series to hold the sway among the Sydney 3-year-old fillies with consecutive victories at Randwick.
The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained representative resumed with success in the G2 Silver Shadow S. on soft going and produced a repeat performance on Saturday to claim top honours in the G2 Darley Furious S.
Dame Giselle had to do it the hard way after drawing wide and was forced to cover extra ground to the turn before she showed her class rounding off her effort strongly in the run home for jockey Tommy Berry.
“She didn’t have any luck at any stage and Tommy might have had second thoughts about going back too far, but I’m glad he didn’t,” Paul Snowden said.
“Drawing nine was a sticky gate and we needed a little bit to go our way in the first 200 metres, which it didn’t. To her credit she has really found late.”
“Drawing nine was a sticky gate and we needed a little bit to go our way in the first 200 metres, which it didn’t. To her credit she has really found late.” – Paul Snowden
“She showed her tenacity again, she’s done it twice now going three deep without cover and got the victories. She’s a special filly.”
Next stop
Dame Giselle will now head to the G2 Tea Rose S. in three weeks’ time.
“That’s always been the plan and we think she will excel at 1400 metres and she can take a sit and show that devastating turn of foot, which she’s showed again off a wide run,” Snowden said.
Dame Giselle may have been caught wide in the running, but Berry said the filly was always in a good and uninterrupted rhythm.
“I just had to cop my medicine and she just travelled so sweetly in the run and I felt like I had the race won a fair way out.
“I just had to cop my medicine and she just travelled so sweetly in the run and I felt like I had the race won a fair way out. " - Tommy Berry
“She showed the turn of foot that she maybe didn’t show first-up when ridden off the speed so it was good to see. I felt like she star-gazed a bit when she got to the front and when Hungry Heart came to me she really lifted again.”
Berry was a little hesitant about Dame Giselle’s prospects of running a strong 1400 metres after his experiences with another smart filly of last season.
“She’s a brilliant filly and I got roped into thinking Libertini might stretch out last preparation, but all you can do is keep stepping her up and hoping she does,” he said.
Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}) gave a bold account of herself by finishing off well for second ahead of Forbidden Love (All Too Hard) and the front-runner Vangelic (Vancouver).
