A Stakes quinella on Day One of the Queensland Winter Carnival and a brilliant Sunday victory bookended an outstanding weekend for a trio of 3YO fillies in the PROVEN team.

A deteriorating heavy track at Doomben was no deterrent for the emerging CANADIAN DANCER as she put paid to her rivals after a masterful ride from Ben Thompson in the Listed Princess Stakes at Doomben Saturday, chased home by her well bred stablemate TERANGA.

The pair are now genuine contenders for the upcoming set of staying events against their own age and sex that lead into the Group 1 QLD Oaks at Eagle Farm June 4. CANADIAN DANCER, the sharper of the two, was more favoured over the mile around Doomben but TERANGA, being the daughter of an Oaks victor, gives the impression that longer trips will be to her advantage.

To that end, trainers Steve O’Dea & Matt Hoysted have elected to aim at the 1800m Listed Gold Coast Bracelet with CANADIAN DANCER on May 7 and the Group 2 Roses (2000m) at Doomben a fortnight later looks an ideal target for TERANGA, a SEBRING daughter of TINTO. Whether one or both fillies graduate beyond those next starts to include the Oaks will be determined by how they perform.

In the meantime, these two fillies will be looking over their shoulders for stablemate SECRET TALES who burst into Classic contention with a near four length romp in a BM65 against her own age at the Sunshine Coast Sunday.

No stranger to big margins (she’d won her maiden at the Gold Coast in March last year by a staggering 18 lengths!), the SPILL THE BEANS filly backed up from winning seven days prior over 1300m to Sunday’s 1600m trip.

Whether SECRET TALES lines up against her two colleagues will be a matter for discussion in the office of O’Dea/Hoysted. But it’s a first world problem for the white hot training partnership who this season have maintained an astonishing strike rate of more than 30%.

Sunday’s easy watch was Proven’s 51st winner in season 2021/22 with more than 3 months remaining.

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