She was paying $15 with online bookmakers and going up against Adam Durrant’s star Natasha Stakes winner, Constant Dreaming. A big ask.
If that wasn’t enough to lose faith, Saturday’s WA Oaks winning filly Lady Chant’s trainer Brock Lewthwaite held his nerve when she was second-last at the turn with 500m to go in the $250,000 feature over 2400m.
That was because he knew she was capable of the brilliant performance she produced on the straight, going on to weave through a bunched field and salute from a small inside passage.
It was a very classy ride from Jason Whiting, who took out his second consecutive Oaks title.
Lewthwaite also needed to show that kind of patience when his stayer wasn’t showing the form he expected of her from last December to March, going winless over her first three starts.
Lady Chant showed remarkable poise for a maiden to dodge her way through the field in the manner she did, and in such a high-pressure staying race, to win on Saturday.
“When she started weaving through I thought ‘here we go’. I saw her winding up, which is what she does at home,” Lewthwaite told Sky Racing.
“It’s very special.
“It means a lot because at the price (I purchased her for) you think they’re pretty quick. But she didn’t show a lot in the early days.
“And that was when me and my father went through the pedigree and we looked up the older siblings who were going so well over east, and they were all two-year-olds who trialed shocking.
“But they came on as older stayers, and she just fits that mold.”
Lewthwaite’s judgment was spot on, and pre-race he also showed great nous telling Whiting not to fire too early.
“From the wide barrier (nine) Brock said just switch her off – she’s a beautiful relaxed filly,” the experienced hoop said.
“Just switch her off and ride her from there.
“It felt like she still had plenty to offer. We were down on the inside there and we just had to negotiate her passage through.
“And once it came she led nicely.”
Lady Chant’s last to first 2022 WA Oaks win
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