Killiana bounces back in the Gold Rush at Bendigo

After a disappointing run in The Showdown, Killiana made a strong return with a rewarding victory at Bendigo on Saturday in the VOBIS Gold series.

The Brazen Beau filly was able to overcome a wide trip to win the $250,000 VOBIS Gold Rush, which also included a $30,000 bonus payout, giving connections a well-deserved result.

It marked her second win from just three career starts, having previously impressed on debut at the same venue. Co-trainer J D Hayes was full of praise for the $160,000 Inglis Premier filly’s performance.

“She’s very, very fast and these VOBIS races that are put on, it’s just so good to have them with such good prizemoney attached, it makes it very easy to target them,” he said.

“A filly like her, we’ll sit back and see what the plans is next, but she’s done a good job this time in.

“I’m really proud of this filly, to be able to pick herself up after her Showdown run, month between runs with a tick-over jumpout, it’s just a credit to all out team and the facilities we have.”

The Lindsay Park stable, made up of J D, Ben and Will Hayes, has now taken out the Gold Rush in consecutive years, with Bold Bastille claiming last year's edition.

Like her predecessor, Killiana showed plenty of pace, but Michael Dee had to make do with a three-wide run after she was unable to cross early.

Punters who backed the $2.30 betting site favourite were made to sweat as she came under pressure in the final furlong, but she surged late to score by a long-neck over Salty Pearl ($17), with Wintery ($17) filling third place, 1-1/4 lengths further back.

“She has a lot of speed and unfortunately she wasn’t able to cross over, so she did it the hard way and sat three-wide, but gave a good kick. It was a good effort,” Dee said.