Galapagos Girl Wins
From AAP Racing 22/08/02

Former West Australian mare Galapagos Girl made an impressive Victorian debut in the VRC At Werribee Hcp (1000m) today.

Having her first start for trainer Brian Mayfield-Smith, Galapagos Girl raced handy to the lead before unwinding a powerful sprint in the straight to come away and score by 1-3/4 lengths from Chardonnay And Ice with a long neck to Tycoon Milly in third place.

Mayfield-Smith will eventually look for a suitable stakes race for Galapagos Girl, who is raced by Peter Holmes a'Court in the famous maroon silks used by his father Robert on 1984 Melbourne Cup winner Black Knight.

Galapagos Girl had not raced since October last year, despite being sent to Mayfield-Smith earlier this year. His patience, however, is set to reap big dividends.

"I wasn't happy with her when I had her in work early this year," Mayfield-Smith said.

"I had her knees X-rayed and turned her out for a spell because she was a little immature.

"She is pretty smart, though, and I was very happy with the run.

"I was pleased to see her win over 1000 metres. She began well and took up a nice spot but her forte is to get back into a field and finish strongly."

Galapagos Girl, a Dehere mare out of Reigntaine, started three times in Perth before today's win, scoring a debut win at Belmont Park last September.

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