Foxwedge’s Lady is far from Legless
Spring in mind for improving three-year-old filly after bringing up South Australian hat-trick
She may have been hidden away at Murray Bridge in South Australia, early in the second month of winter, but it was hard to miss Legless Lady (Foxwedge) on Saturday, charging home to bring up a hat-trick to add to her rapidly improving race record.
A three-quarter sister in blood to the South African Grade 1 winner Run Fox Run, Legless Lady graduated from a Morphettville maiden win on June 11 to winning the $100,000 three-year-old race over 1200 metres at the weekend.
The manner of her three-length come-from-behind win, at her fourth start this preparation, was enough to convince her trainers Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas to give the filly a short break with a spring campaign in mind.
“She’s shown that she is going to be around the black–type class,” Gluyas told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“Each effort has been quite good and the ability to back her up [last] week was quite pleasing. She’s got a little bit of cluck about her and is quite durable and they’re the qualities that you need to take that next step and we’re hopeful that she’ll be able to do that.”
Legless Lady raced twice as a two-year-old, finishing fourth in the Without Fear Stakes (Listed, 1050m) at Morphettville in May 2021 before rounding out her season with an unplaced effort in the David Coles Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) a fortnight later.
She then returned last spring with an unplaced effort in a three-year-old maiden over 1000 metres before the trainers again turned her out.
“She took a while to get going but she’s strung three together now and it looks like she’s got a little bit of upside, so we’re quite happy with her,” Gluyas said.
“She showed a little bit early, but she wasn’t quite ready physically, she just needed to grow into herself, but we did test her [at two] and it showed that she just wasn’t ready and needed that bit of time.
“She presented as a late season three-year-old and she’s come back as a much better put-together horse and the time did her the world of good.”
Legless Lady and Run Fox Run were both bred by Chris Watson’s Mill Park Stud and the Quality Thoroughbred Breeding Joint Venture of Harry Perks and Sam Scaffidi. The South Australians race Legless Lady together, having withdrawn her from the 2020 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale and the Inglis Easter Round 2 sale at this time two years ago.
Out of Champagne Jane (Starcraft), herself a half-sister to Run Fox Run and the Listed-winning sprinter Guard Of Honour (Northern Meteor), Legless Lady is also a half-sister to the stakes-placed Pimm’s Party (Street Boss), who was also retained to race by connections and was runner-up at Murray Bridge on Saturday for Macdonald and Gluyas.
“The three of them stayed together and kept her. Why, I’m not quite sure, but they decided to retain her. It may have been because of her immaturity. Perhaps she wasn’t quite ready,” Gluyas said.
“But it has worked in their favour and perhaps they are good judges [and could see her potential early on].”
Their patience was tested, however, when she was scratched from a race at Murray Bridge in early May and she finished runner-up at the same course in a maiden later that month, the precursor to her winning streak.
“We thought she might have been able to win first-up at Murray Bridge. She had a few hiccups in the gates that day and she ended up being scratched and that was a little disappointing, but from there her subsequent four runs have been great,” he said.
“She just needed the time. She wasn’t ready, really [last year], that was the crux of that.”
Meanwhile, stablemate Dalasan (Dalakhani), who is also raced by Perks, returned to Macdonald’s and Gluyas’ Adelaide stables for another preparation last Friday.
The rising six-year-old four-time Group 1-placed entire was a Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner down the Flemington straight course as a three-year-old but, so far, connections have been unable to clinch a deal for him to stand at stud.
“We’ll prepare him again for the spring and see where he takes us. I think we need to sit down and really think about where we take him,” Gluyas said.
“His racing’s been excellent at the top level without winning. We freshened him to get him back for Adelaide and run in our carnival [in the autumn]. That didn’t quite happen for him [when beaten in the RA Lee Stakes], but he’s in good order. He’s a lovely horse and he’s still got something to offer.
“You wouldn’t know he’s a stallion. He is an absolute gentleman. He’s unbelievable – he’s such a lovely horse.”