Beautifully bred filly Gamble Me sent her broodmare value soaring when she scored a solid on-pace win in the $100,700, Group III, Thoroughbred Club Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
Considered by punters to be the 'second stringer' of the Lee Freedman stable, Gamble Me extended her unbeaten run at Caulfield to two with a dominant victory.
At the post Gamble Me held a sizeable two length margin over Vivacious Spirit.
The winner's stablemate Belcentra was a short-half head behind the runner-up in third place.
A daughter of Danehill's record breaking shuttling sire son Rock of Gibraltar, Gamble Me appreciate the drop back to 1200 metres after failing to run out a strong seven furlongs at her most recent at Sandown behind Zarita.
'It's been a particular good race this for Gooree,' Freedman said referring to Eduardo Cojuangco's Gooree group who bred and race the filly. 'They won is last year with Queen of the Hill.'
'This filly came back from seven (furlongs, 1400m) last start when she had a soft run in front with the claim and she didn't kick on.'
'It ended up perfect for her today,' Freedman added.
Freedman was impressed the filly was able to kick on strongly in the straight considering the race was run at high speed and she was on the 'bunny' throughout.
'She made all the running from the wide gate and she didn't have any favours at all.'
The masterful Rye horseman said there were a couple of options for Gamble Me over the coming weeks of the carnival.
'Probably that race at the Valley and maybe something over Cup week like the Red Roses.'
Freedman said he had not decided whether he would back up third placegetter Belcentra in Wednesday's Group One Thousand Guineas.
'I would have thought it's too early (to decide),' Freedman noted. 'I would have liked to have seen her make up a bit more ground on the winner than she did to worry about Wednesday just yet.'
'She did race like a miler today. But whether that's good enough to be backing her up, we'll have to wait and see.'
Corey Brown, who rode Belcentra, said he would leave a decision on backing up the Bel Esprit filly to Freedman.
'The tempo of the race took the edge away from her,' Brown stated. 'She may be looking for the extra ground.'
'We'll let the boss decide about Wednesday,' Brown summed up.
Craig Newitt, rider of the runner up Vivacious Spirit, went close to making it three from three after winning the day's opening two races.
'She ran terrific,' Newitt said of Vivacious Spirit. 'But she might be off to the paddock now.'
'She was a bit sour behind the barriers but she had a good run and finished it off well,' Newitt added.
Chinchilla Rose, the drifting second favourite, got back in the field and failed to run on as hoped over the concluding stages after getting into some trouble.
'She was run off her legs early,' rider Stathi Katsidis said. 'And then we got held up early in the straight.'
'She showed a good turn of foot when she did get clear, making ground before dying on her run late.'
The disappointment of the race was proven group winner Downhill Racer. The David Hayes trained filly beat only two runners home when thirteenth.
'She was disappointing,' her rider Craig Williams commented. 'She ran so well first up behind the winner and was looking for the 1200 metres.'
'She struck some trouble coming around the home turn, but she just didn't come on,' he added.
The well bred filly Nuclear Force bled during the race.
'She's a nice filly but she gets stirred up quite easily and tries to go too much,' Peter Mertens said of Nuclear Force.
'Just when I got her to settle, something got on her heels and stirred her up again. At the top of the straight I knew something was amiss as she started to go backwards.'
Gamble Me is one of two winners from two runners for the lightly raced and American placed Pleasant Tap mare Good Gamble.
Her sire Rock of Gibraltar has made a great start to his siring career in both hemispheres with stars including Mount Nelson, Seventh Rock, Eagle Mountain, Murtajill, Sliding Cube, Gibraltar Campion, I Have No Fear and Superfly.
