Flemington trainer Simon Zahra was a relieved man after promising filly Mrs Beckham (NZ) (Toronado) broke maiden ranks at her fifth attempt at Caulfield on Wednesday.
Sent out a $2.10 favourite, Mrs Beckham raced outside the leader Busby ($4.40) for Chris Symons before moving clear in the straight to win her 1440m maiden by three lengths.
“She’s always shown us a lot from the start when she arrived from New Zealand late last year,” said Zahra, who trains in partnership with Mathew Ellerton.
“We’ve done a fair bit with her and now she’s gradually improving. When she learns how to chill out and race properly she’ll be a nice filly.”
Mrs Beckham caught the eye when resuming under Symons in a 1300m maiden at Sandown Hillside on December 4.
She settled last from the outside barrier in the field of 12 before reeling off the quickest final 400m of the meeting (22.18s) to finish third behind Briseur de Coeur (Nicconi) and stablemate Little Stevie (Dream Ahead).
“We drew wide and we thought we could win the race but looking at the bigger picture we told Chris (Symons) to go back,” Zahra said.
“She hit the line and put the writing on the wall.”
Bred and raced by Valachi Downs principal Kevin Hickman, Mrs Beckham is well named as the daughter of Toronado and the Zabeel mare Posh (NZ) (Zabeel).
Mrs Beckham trialed twice for Matamata horseman Stephen Autridge before crossing the Tasman.
