Smooth maiden victory for Manicure

Undeterred by a luckless start to her racing career, Godolphin filly Manicure has produced a resilient finish to upset Sasso Corbaro and get off the mark at Canterbury.

The two-year-old was hampered at the start and then checked in the Warwick Farm straight before finishing second last in May.

She enjoyed a smoother run on Wednesday despite the presence of the Kris Lees-trained $2.40 favourite over the latter stages.

Sasso Corbaro looked as if she would win the 2YO maiden (1100m) but Manicure ($9.50) reeled her in over the last 50m to please trainer Darren Beadman.

“From day one she’s always showed us she’s got a touch of brilliance about her. She was luckless the other day when she was just starting to chime into it,” Beadman said.

Manicure finished strongly to win by half a neck while the Chris Waller-trained Aonair ($81) was another 3-1/4 lengths third.

“Having that run under her belt, she’s a lot fitter and when she had to dig deep, she dug deep,” Beadman said.

“She’s got a good nostril and a good attitude. That’ll take her a long way.”

Manicure could now be aimed towards a Saturday race but there will be no rush.

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“She might go to a Saturday race now,” Beadman said.

“We’ve taken our time with her all the way through.I don’t think we need to change anything.”

Jockey Corey Brown said he thought Manicure was capable of stepping up to weekend racing.

“She’s definitely Saturday grade,” he said.

“You’re going to see a lot better horse next time. The penny still hasn’t dropped a hundred per cent, she’s still learning her craft.”

In the two-year-old colts and geldings division, the Hawkes Racing-trained Overshare resisted the late challenge of the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained League Of Nations ($3.30).

The $3.10 favourite, who had his previous two starts in Melbourne, won by a short neck.

“You’d think there was plenty of improvement there in him as well. He looked a little bit green there in the straight,” stable representative Tania Rouse said.

“Full credit to Wayne (Hawkes) and the team. He’s only been up with us a couple of days but he’s come up in terrific order.”