Richard and Chantelle Jolly’s See You In Heaven (Divine Prohet) has made the best possible start to her campaign, dominating the Gr.3 Behemoth Stakes (1200m) first-up at Morphettville on Saturday.
A strong field of mostly locals assembled for the A$150,000 contest, and while the Group Two-winning mare started favourite ($3.30), a 10-month gap between runs and a recent lacklustre trial saw plenty of money head elsewhere.
But even off this break, See You In Heaven proved a class above, sitting wide with cover before peeling out in the straight and hitting the lead at the furlong pole.
My Khalifa (Pride Of Dubai) chased gamely into second, but nothing else could get close to the See You In Heaven and Jake Toeroek, who never looked in danger late.
It was a relieving win for the father and daughter training duo, with Richard Jolly cautious pre-race.
“It was great to see her win like that; I really thought she was underdone,” Jolly said.
“She never trials brilliantly, and she’s a bit of a dud worker really, but she did work quite well for her on Tuesday.
“And once I saw her playing up in the mounting yard, on two feet, I thought, ‘she’s really switched on’.
“To see her do that, when my thinking is that she was nowhere near ready, is really exciting.”
Looking ahead, there are no concrete plans beyond another run in Adelaide, as the team looks to keep options open for the spring.
However, the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) has already been identified as a target.
“I’d really want to go to the Leon MacDonald (Listed, 1400m) in two weeks, it’s in our backyard and then she’s got two runs at home under her belt,” Jolly said.
“Then we’ll look to the spring – there’s a lot of races to choose from. In Melbourne we can stick to the mare’s races.
“The Empire Rose Stakes on Derby Day would probably be the aim, I would say.”
See You In Heaven is the flagbearer for Highview Stud stallion Divine Prophet, a Group One winning full brother to Proisir, who stands for $9,000+GST this season.
