Australian trainer Tony McEvoy, the man who moulded the early career of Hong Kong Derby fancy Elegant Fashion, yesterday drew a comparison with the champion mare Sunline while assessing the prospects of the David Hayes-trained filly on Sunday.
McEvoy pointed out that winning the Melbourne triple crown for three-year-old fillies 12 months ago was something even Hong Kong Mile heroine Sunline, who ultimately won 28 stakes races including 13 at Group One level, could not do at the same age.
'We all know what a great mare Sunline was - world class - but she was beaten in the first leg of the triple crown before winning the second and third legs,' McEvoy said. 'So the effort by Elegant Fashion to retain her form right through the series was truly marvellous.'
Despite the obvious quality of her form, McEvoy maintains this daughter of five-time Group One winning sire Danewin was an even better filly than the form book suggests.
'Elegant Fashion should have been unbeaten across her first seven starts,' McEvoy said yesterday. 'After winning the Moonee Valley Oaks she went to Sydney and ran second to Republic Lass in the AJC Australian Oaks, and it was probably one of her bravest efforts.
'She was having her eighth start in her first preparation and was 'gone' on the corner, but she kept fighting and ultimately ran a very creditable second to a filly we now know is top class.'
McEvoy said he has been following Elegant Fashion's Derby progress closely from afar. 'She hasn't run a bad race since she arrived in Hong Kong, but that's the sort of filly she is - she's very solid and consistent.'
