Wish List wins the Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Only a handful of fillies have won the Gr 1 Lucky Fish Cape Derby and the Justin Snaith-trained Gr 1 Cartier Paddock Stakes winner Wish List will be attempting to join them.
Wish List is by Legislate and that is appropriate because this Maine Chance Farms-bred filly is part-owned by Nancy Hossack and runs in her familiar white with black spots colours, which were the colours of her late father Jack Mitchell, who was a part-owner of Legislate.
Legislate was a winner of the Cape Derby.
Wish List is out of the SA Oaks-winning Silvano mare Wind Chill.
So, on pedigreee, Wish List will have no problem staying the 2000m Cape Derby distance.
On running style she will enjoy it too as she is a filly who comes from off the pace with a strong finish.
In the Gr 1 WSB Cape Guineas she was drawn wide and was dropped out before running on strongly for third.
In the Paddock Stakes she was ridden by Andrew Fortune for the first time and was once again drawn wide.
Fortune dropped her out behind the field in order to secure the rail.
She stormed up the rail from about third last in the running and a gap to get past Reet Petite opened at just the right time, allowing her to surge to the frontline at the 300m mark.
She wore down a line of horses that included Reet Petite, Rainbow Lorikeet, Double Grand Slam and Minogue, all top class females.
In 1925 a filly called Desert Born won the inaugural running of the race today known as the Lucky Fish Cape Derby.
Since then the following fillies have won the race:
Decoration (1929), Windlass (1930), Anthea (1935), Fringilla (1936), Green Lass (1951), Taim Bluff (Arg) (1980), Dog Wood (1999).
The three-year-old male crop has been a touch disappointing this season to date, although Star Major won the Gr 3 HKJC World Pool Politician Stakes over 1800m on Saturday in fine style and that race is the traditional pointer to the Cape Derby.
Nevertheless, Wish List will have a fine chance of becoming the first filly for 27 years and only the ninth filly in history to win it.
