BRILLIANT WIN BY VICTORIAN MARE IN THE G2 WINTERBOTTOM STAKES

VICTORIAN mare Ortensia will be set for the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes and Stradbroke Handicap after her record-breaking win in the $500,000 Winterbottom Stakes, 1200m, at Ascot on Saturday.

Trainer Tony Noonan will now spell Ortensia then target the $300,000 Robert Sangster, 1200m, at Morphettville in March and the $1 million Stradbroke, 1400m, at Eagle Farm on June 12, in which she ran third to Black Piranha this year.

Jockey Craig Williams brought Ortensia, $3.70, from near last to win the Group 2 Winterbottom running away from West Australian stablemates Idyllic Prince, $5, and Black In Time, $15. She ran a race record of 1:08.56.

“You really saw a real top mare today,” Noonan said. “We had to bite the bullet and ride her quietly and give them a head start. It was a tremendous effort in the straight.”

Ortensia bounced back from a Railway Stakes failure the previous weekend at Ascot when sh failed to run out the mile. She has now won eight of 16 starts and been successful in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Williams, who this week heads to Japan for an Invitation Jockeys’ Series, said: “She’s going to be one of the top sprinters in the land. I’ve always had faith in her. I think I’ve been to almost all points of Australia with her and she’s never really disappointed me.”

The brilliant win by Ortensia boosted plans for Noonan to set up a satellite stable in Perth after ending a two-year search to secure 20 boxes at Ascot.

Noonan remains hopeful that Coconut Grove, an impressive winner over 1500m at Ascot a week ago, can sneak into the field for next Saturday’s $500,000 Go For 2&5 Kingston Town Classic, 1800m.

Gallant Winterbottom runner-up Idyllic Prince returned with a split frog on his off-hind hoof, which could force him to the paddock and out of the $125,000 AJ Scahill Stakes (1400m) in a fortnight.

Boom West Australian three-year-old Waratah’s Secret, the $3 favorite, suffered the first loss of his career when racing erratically and tiring to finishing sixth.