Waterhouse/Bott filly finds Stardom at Scone

Respected breeder John Cornish is celebrating the emergence of a potential star after his filly Stardom scored a determined win in the Woodlands Stakes (1100m) on Saturday.

Cornish, who previously raced her dam Diddums and has bred Hong Kong champions Hot King Prawn and Voyage Bubble, was delighted to see Stardom earn black-type success at just her third career start.

“I think we’ve deserved it. A few drinks have gone past since we’ve had a good filly,” Cornish said.

“I thought she might have been beaten two, three times but (she put her) head down and she kept coming. That’s a good sign in a baby, isn’t it.”

Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Stardom had run third to Akaysha and Beadman on debut at Kembla Grange before breaking her maiden in style at Wagga. Saturday’s stakes win was a step up, and she delivered with class.

Jockey Adam Hyeronimus credited the Waterhouse-Bott team for their handling of the filly.

“Horses that come from the stable, they’re so sharp out of the gates and it puts them in a really good position to be dominant like she was today,” Hyeronimus said.

“It was a very good training performance from Gai and Adrian because generally the horses from the stable will always progress out over further once they’ve started racing but for them to bring her back to 1100 metres in a stakes race, although she won well at Wagga, it was always going to be difficult and that goes to Gai and Adrian.”

Stardom ($3.60) was too tough late, holding off Wollzeile ($26) by a neck, while Akaysha ($2.40) finished strongly to grab third a length away.

Punters eager to follow Stardom’s journey can access markets for her next targets at leading Australian betting sites.