KEY POINTS:
The John Singleton-owned filly Universal Queen landed a spectacular betting plunge when she powered to victory in the Group Three The Vanity (1200m) at Moonee Valley yesterday.
Bookmakers were "hammered", with leading bookie Michael Eskander putting up as much as $11 on Friday.
On-track bookmakers were also hit, betting $7 in some quarters before they slashed her starting price to $3.70.
Eskander's racing manager Michael Horne said it was the biggest pre-race betting plunge he had seen.
"We put up $11 yesterday, $9 this morning and we were still betting $5 when we opened on track."
Simon Beasley's racing manager Steve Gelsi said they bet $5 in to $3.80.
"There was some pretty smart money and bookies took a hammering," he said.
A brilliant track gallop with Lightning Stakes winner Miss Andretti at Freedman's Rye property laid the foundation for the plunge.
Formerly trained by Bede Murray, Universal Queen was sent to Freedman 11 weeks ago for a change of environment at the beach and the improvement came quickly.
"We trialled her with Miss Andretti about 10 days ago and she usually beats them out of the sight but this filly was staring her down the last bit."
Freedman declined to say if Universal Queen beat Miss Andretti in the trial but added "she gave her a peck on the cheek."
"We came here with a fair degree of confidence if she ran up to her work and I would say certain jockeys had friends that did very well out of it [the win]," Freedman said.
- AAP
