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Clinton McDonald will head to Europe for his 50th celebrations with the knowledge he has a legitimate spring contender in the form of two-year-old filly Miss Ole after her gutsy performance to win the Brendan Dreschler Handicap (2yo, 1100m).

Miss Ole under the guidance of Ben Allen had to work to win as Espana proved hard to run down as they only grabbed her close to the line.

“She’s a winner. She had to be tough there and she just kept coming and coming. I was confident she would get there, but the post was also coming up quickly,” McDonald said.

“That’s her third run. She should be three from three and it will be a good form race as Lloyd (Kennewell) has a big opinion of his filly, who I thought ran fantastically well.”

“We will get her back she’s down the straight in the spring and see where she ends up which could be the Coolmore as she’s a very good filly.”

McDonald said he had ear marked Miss Ole as his Blue Diamond prospect, but she got a little sore in the shins and he eased her up and decided to wait, a decision that had borne fruit for them.

“I don’t know where the ceiling is for her,” McDonald said.
Ben Allen was having his first ride on her and he had to take up the running in the early stages of the race.

“It’s not ideal to take that spot having her first run down the straight and she had to be tough. The plan was to ride her and for her to get into her rhythm," Allen said.

“I wanted to get her to settle a bit better. She had to be tough as the second horse put a half-length on us. She’s still raw, with a lot of upside.”