It's not often that a trainer leaves a racecourse with a smile on their face after finishing out of the money but that was the case for Waverley's Bill Thurlow at Flemington on Saturday.
Thurlow was reflecting on the performance of his Group 1 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Glory Days, who demonstrated a good turn of foot under the steadier of 60.5kg as she stormed into fifth over 1700m to close out the programme at Melbourne's racing headquarters.
While expecting Glory Days to improve on her first-up performance in New Zealand, where she struggled when finishing at the rear over 1400m on a waterlogged surface at Otaki, Thurlow admitted he was looking for a confidence booster as he plots a course to the Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) for the bonny 7-year-old mare. "She went super and we are very pleased with that performance," he said.
"It was quite a strong field and she was giving up to 6kg to the ones who finished in front of her, so you have to be thrilled with a run like that.
"We were realistic about our winning chances before the race and I just wanted to see her get home well, so she really did live right up to expectations with the run."