KEY POINTS:
New Zealand mare Ticklish may be a seven-year-old but trainer Steven Pinfold believes the best is still ahead of her.
Having her 35th race at Moonee Valley on Saturday, the daughter of Maroof appreciated the drop from Group class when she stormed home for a last-stride win over Sipowicz in the Business Travel Handicap (1000m).
"Really, she is just starting to look like a horse now," said Pinfold who trains at Pukekohe in South Auckland.
"She has been a pretty slow maturer and not the easiest horse to train either.
"She has had behavioural problems and we have done a lot of work with her trying to get her to relax so it was good to see her find the line."
The Group Two Schillaci Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on October 13 is likely to be her next target, before the Moir Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on October 27.
Jockey Michael Rodd said the 1000m distance suited Ticklish perfectly.
"I don't know about anything further," Rodd said.
Ticklish is a multiple stakes winner in New Zealand and in February was third to Miss Andretti and Magnus in the Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley.
After finishing on the heels of the placegetters in both the The Galaxy and Sapphire Stakes in Sydney last autumn, she disappointed first-up when seventh to Here De Angels in the McEwen Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on September 1.
She could easily have lined up in the Manikato Stakes on Saturday, but Pinfold was happy enough with the win and is hoping it will be the launching pad for better races in the spring.
"There are plenty of options for mare like her," Pinfold said.
"She's seven but only lightly raced and is only going to keep improving."
* Victorian horseman Nigel Sutcliffe had a dream start to his training career when Antarctic Miss gave him his first Group race success in the Group Three Champagne Stakes earlier on the programme.
Sutcliffe, 32, who worked for former Matamata and now Melbourne-based trainer Mike Moroney for seven years and spent some time as his assistant trainer, is in his first year of training in his own right and has nine horses in work at Connewarre, near Torquay on the Bellarine Peninsula.
Antarctic Miss, a filly by Ustinov which is a son of champion mare Let's Elope, gave Sutcliffe his first winner when she won a maiden on her home course of Geelong last month.
She had also run two city placings, including a third to Royal Asscher in the William Crockett Stakes (1000m) at Caulfield on September 1.
"To get a Group winner in my first year is fantastic," Sutcliffe said.
"We think she is a high class filly. She'll get better when she gets over further and we'll take the blinkers off so she can relax a little bit more."
Sutcliffe said spring targets included the Edward Manifold Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on October 6 and the Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield on October 17.
Antarctic Miss was knocked down to Mark Pilkington as a yearling in New Zealand.
"She was on David Hayes' plane to go back to Australia but I did some very fast talking, got her off the plane and put her on to our plane and she came down to Surf Coast Racing," Sutcliffe said.
Ridden by Greg Childs, Antarctic Miss ($16) settled second behind race leader Fasline and found plenty to score by a half-length from Bel Mer ($4.40) with Gladwell ($4.20 fav) a half neck away third.
The victory in the 1200m event was Childs' first in a Group race since he returned from 12 weeks on the sidelines, with a broken fibula suffered when Eskimo Queen clipped heels and dislodged him in the Queensland Derby in June.
"Racing is tough. I had to start from scratch. I lost some very good rides," Childs said.
"I rode Mike Moroney's first winner and I rode this filly to give Nigel his first winner."
Childs predicted a bright future for Antarctic Miss.
"A mile is as far as she wants to go at this stage and we would take the blinkers off," he said.
* Flemington trainer Mark Kavanagh is becoming keener on the chances of Devil Moon as a Caulfield Cup prospect, after she raced wide throughout but still won the Group Two Independent Cranes Stakes.
Betting agency Betstar slashed the four-year-old's cup quote from $51 to $17 after jockey Michael Rodd declared the four-year-old was untroubled in scoring by a length from Brom Felinity, with Hidden Strings 1 1/4 lengths away third in the 1600m event restricted to mares.
"She is just unbelievable," he said.
"She is so impressive. I was three deep but she was travelling as if she was on the fence. It wasn't a problem.
"She pulled herself up there and then I just let her go. She tries very hard and I don't think she feels pain."
Devil Moon has won seven of her 15 starts and backed up from an outside barrier after winning the Group Three Let's Elope Stakes (1400m) at Flemington a week earlier.
- AAP
