Leading trainer Chris Waller showed the depth of his team of fillies when saddling the first three across the line in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m) on Saturday, with all three carrying the (NZ) suffix.
Grace And Harmony (NZ) (Sebring) led home former New Zealand-trained fillies Signora Nera (NZ) (Sweynesse) and Only Words (NZ) (Sweynesse).
Ridden by James McDonald, Grace And Harmony forged to the lead with 300m left to run and staved off her stablemates, with Signora Nera eating into the margin late.
All three are set to head to the Gr.3 The Roses (2000m) in a fortnight’s time at Doomben before going onto the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m), a race Waller has won in four of the past six runnings, most notably with Winx in 2015.
A proactive ride by jockey James McDonald enabled Grace And Harmony to creep into the race before the bend, while Opie Bosson rode the Luigi Muollo-owned Signora Nera patiently and closed off nicely.
It was the third win in succession for Grace And Harmony, advancing her record to three wins and a third from five starts with earnings of A$164,565.
A homebred for Greg Perry’s Greenwich Stud, Grace And Harmony is a three-quarter-sister to the Gr.1 Flight Stakes (1600m) runner-up Sezanne (More Than Ready) out of the top-class Choisir mare Champagne Harmony.
Waller has a knack for building the confidence of his young horses through the Queensland carnival and the trio of fillies look to fit the brief.
“You have to have the right horses to do it and we pride ourselves on giving our fillies a bit of time and they seem to respond well to it so we try not to break too many formulas if they’re working,” he said.
Novara Park’s Luigi Muollo celebrated a bumper day as the breeder of Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) winner Explosive Jack (NZ) (Jakkalberry), while both Signora Nera and Only Words were also farm graduates.
