This 3yo mile was a far stronger field than that Listed rating suggests and was certainly of Group class in the majority but ended up being just a sprint home. The finish was tight and exciting but more so through a mid-sectional crawl plus the hotpot Sacred Elixir was the biggest victim and finished fourth. Volpe Veloce scored the most serious win of her career to date albeit just at Listed level and remains unbeaten in seven starts. The Australian bred filly was on the early pace wide but soon eased back and got over fifth the outer in a good spot. She was stoked up the run home and after reaching fourth at the 200m kept coming as she does to get up in a tight finish to win by a nose in 1:35.01. The time was slower than the Special Conditions event held in the following race somewhat alarmingly, also won by a 3yo that has scope. Volpe Veloce incredibly in her unbeaten record to date has yet to break 1:35 for a mile, has not broken 1:26 for 1400m and the fastest 1200m she has had to run is 1:10.97 so has only just broken 1:11. The only thing she has left to do now this season is get a G1 to make the set after having a G2, G3 and Listed success on the resume. Heroic Valour, also an Australian bred, fought hard to go down a lip after sitting one spot ahead of the winner on the outer and the sex allowance of 2kg really did matter in such a tight finish. Jon Snow sat second the outer and fought hard the run home to make it a real ding-donger the closing 100m and was beaten on the line a nose and a head. Sacred Elixir, the odds on favourite, finished fourth beaten just over a length and a half after settling down in the rear duo the outer. The midrace brake application forced his rider to move wide earlier than normal fearing the sprint home was about to happen and being first up since last October he did not have the race conditioning of his rivals. He did not ping the closing 200m as expected being fresh but never flinched, so bar injury is still on track to win the G1 NZ Derby in the first week of March. Romancer was the only other good effort of note as he ran on from the back like the Derby will be his Grand Final for the season. He too like all the other serious males in this race wants a stronger clip overall to unleash fully and with greater purpose. The rest either disappointed or were outclassed but not beaten by colossal amounts because it was not a true testing run mile. It is impossible to knock a seven-from-seven filly and she will want to get that G1 cherry on top of her season and career so far. Whether she tackles the Oaks or Derby will be decided next time out when tried likely at 2000m to see if her undefeated record still stands and she has the necessary stamina. Volpe Veloce could well end this season never having won in a serious time for a myriad of distances and that in itself is quite extraordinary. The next four runners home, all males, are all Group players for the rest of this season and the Derby winner still looks to be Sacred Elixir with Romancer back in the picture too. It should be noted here the mile winner of the race that followed this that ran superior time is Camino Rocoso and he is right in Derby picture too now. Sacred Elixir it is worth noting won a G1 race third up as a 2yo and a G2 race earlier this season as a 3yo so one more run at 2000m for him and then the Derby looks a lock.