Ploverset upsets Madeenaty on debut

Two-year-old filly Ploverset has upstaged her more fancied stablemate Madeenaty at Flemington to score a Listed race win on debut.

Ploverset was sent out at $21 for her debut in Saturday’s Listed 3AW Is Football Stakes (1000m) at Flemington, but finished over the top of $1.45 favourite Madeenaty to beat her by a long neck.

Ploverset became the 14th individual two-year-old winner for Lindsay Park trainers David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig so far this season and took the training partnership’s total of winners in juvenile races during 2016/17 to 22.

Madeenaty was having her first start since her third in the Magic Millions Classic at the Gold Coast in January and was on trial for the Golden Slipper.

David Hayes will still consider whether to press on to the Slipper in two weeks with Madeenaty, with both Hayes and jockey Mark Zahra saying Madeenaty got worked up pre-race.

Madeenaty led and gave a kick inside the 400m as Sam’s Image challenged on her outside, before Ploverset arrived late under jockey Cory Parish to finish too strongly for the favourite.

Sam’s Image came in another half-head away third.

“It was a huge effort by the winner in her first start, down the straight, to run down a good filly like Madeenaty,” David Hayes said.

“I think Madeenaty might have run her race a bit before the start. She got very upset.

“Ploverset we thought was a really nice filly but I thought she would just need the run, and it would set her up for the Group Three race in a couple of weeks.”

Hayes said Ploverset is being aimed at the Group Three TBV Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1200m) at Flemington in a fortnight.