Verry Elleegant has made it a ninth Group 1 victory in the $1M George Main Stakes, defeating Riodini and Think It Over.
The Caulfield Cup winning mare was a touch slow away out of the barriers which found her in a sticky position in the run, but class inevitably prevailed.
Settling fourth on the fence, James McDonald rode her patiently but was forced to wait for a run in the straight as Riodini kicked a few lengths clear.
While it was panic stations for a brief moment, punters rejoiced as the $1.75 favourite notched up another Group 1 victory and took her prize-money past $9M.
A humble Chris Waller spoke highly of his star mare post-race, passing the credit on to his stable staff.
“She’s a very good horse, it’s as simple as that,” Chris Waller told Sky Racing.
“She’s a difficult horse to train and the team, as I mentioned before today, just do a wonderful job with her and all the horses
“I’m here to get the accolades for it on race day.
“It’s an honour to train a horse like this – if she doesn’t win Group 1s, she runs second in them.
“All distances, all track conditions, that’s a rare commodity.”
Verry Elleegant’s next start is yet to be confirmed, with a number of options on the table for the six-year-old.
With the Hill Stakes (1800m) earning a large prize-money injection earlier in the year, that is a likely possibility before she targets the Cox Plate where she is set to clash with Zaaki in what is being donned as the second-coming of the ‘match race’ between Winx and Hartnell in the 2016 Cox Plate.
“Hopefully she can get towards the Cox Plate,” Waller said.
“I’m yet to decide where her next run will be; whether it will be in Sydney in two weeks in the Hill Stakes, which is obviously on our radar.
“If not there, it could be the Turnbull (Stakes) into the Cox Plate and who knows after that.”
Verry Elleegant’s win saw her firm from $9 into $6 for the $5M Cox Plate which will be run at Moonee Valley on October 23.
