Talented five-year-old mare She’s A Hustler scored a game victory in the Gr.3 Tesio Stakes (2040m) at The Valley on Saturday.
Under a positive ride from Jordan Childs, She’s A Hustler sat just behind the leader Sea What I See, and packed too many punches for that rival in a muddling run race.
The daughter of Ace High has been a model of consistency for trainer Grahame Begg since crossing the Tasman. She placed on debut at Matamata for Roger James and Robert Wellwood.
From nine career starts, She’s A Hustler boasts six wins and three runner-up finishes with Saturday’s victory her first at stakes level.
“Winners win, don’t they,” said stable representative Rohan Hughes.
“She has a great record and Grahame has been careful in the way he’s raised the bar for her. I think he thought this preparation she’d go to a nice level and a race like this.
“We targeted this race a long way out. We wanted to go via the Coongy (Gr.3, 2000m) but he was very happy with her fitness, and that was an extremely tough effort. She had to absorb a lot of pressure from the half-mile onwards, but she’s very, very genuine.
“It is a rare thing. Horses have got it psychologically. They are very competitive and in the end their record shows it.
“She’s still very lightly raced and inexperienced. She’s got good upside. She’s a big, scopey Ace High mare and I’m sure in time with further development she’s going to develop into a nice staying horse and the way Grahame has explained it, 12 months down the track she may have a role to play in the spring carnival.”
The Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) on the final day of the Flemington Carnival is the likely next assignment for She’s A Hustler who hadn’t raced since winning a Benchmark 78 in September, with two jumpouts prior to Saturday’s triumph.
“Full credit to Grahame and the team. It was a good training performance,” winning rider Jordan Childs said.
“It has been a while between runs and up to the 2000 (metres) today, she’s a damn good racehorse. She does everything right, jumps well, puts herself on speed and makes her own luck.
“They took off early and we really had to dig deep because she came off the bridle quite soon but once she got her revs up, she kept going.
“She demolished the line then, so I don’t think going up in distance would be an issue. She’s a very exciting horse for the future.”
By Rich Hill Stud stallion Ace High, She’s A Hustler was a $70,000 purchase by Phill Cataldo at the Karaka Book 1 Yearling Sale in 2022 from the Rich Hill draft.
She’s A Hustler is out of Snow Petal, a winning daughter of Group One winning mare Zirna.