Last Wednesday at Doomben Santa came early for the owners of Keep Your Roses when the 3-year old filly broke through to grab her maiden win when taking out the first of the day, the BECOME A MEMBER @ BRC Fillies and Mares Maiden Handicap over 1200metres.

Unlucky not to win at her prior start, jockey Ronnie Stewart made sure this time she would have plenty of room to make her run when the time came.  After jumping cleanly away from the barriers Stewart elected to settle the filly mid-field and let the others go forward  .As they travelled along he had her positioned nicely about one off the rail and around six lengths off the leaders, under a good hold.  When they entered the turn for the home Stewart began to peel her out from behind the pack and away from traffic.  Just after the 300metre mark it looked like Boscobella was going to pull away from the field however Keep Your Roses had struck a clear run and as Stewart began to urge her along she pinned her ears back, grabbed the bit and chased.  With about 80 metres to go Keep Your Roses had levelled up with Boscobella and by the time they hit the finish line she had drawn clear by three quarters of a length to win in a time of 1:10:60.

Trainer Chris Munce said it was a terrific win by the filly.  ‘She was very strong to the line and there is no doubt she is getting better with racing.  We have done the right thing and taken our time with her it is now showing with her maturity.  She is in peak condition at the moment but I think she will still improve after today’s run.’

Keep Your Roses is by Love Conquers All (Mossman) and is out of the Danehill mare Mustique.

Her race record is now 4-1:1:0

Congratulations to all her owners.

[Photos courtesy of Grant Peters, Trackside Photography]