Lope de Vega x Second Draw (Galileo)  

Why this filly

• Outstanding type who is well balanced with a big girth, strong shoulder & incredible walk
• Leading Global sire with 8.4% StakesWinners to Runners
• 2x City winning Mare over 1400m & 1600m
• Lope de Vega x Galileo 28% StakesWinners to Runners

http://inglis.com.au/sales/info/2017+Classic+Yearling+Sale/catalogue/188

Honey Cara stepped into her big sister's shoes on Friday night demolishing a strong field by six lengths at Moonee Valley over the Cox Plate trip of 2040m. 

A half-sister to promising stayer Amelie's Star (who is on the path back from injury), Honey Cara took advantage of a soft lead to win running away over the 2040m by a widening margin, her fourth win from 13 starts.

 http://www.inglis.tv/Qf8H

Being prepared for the 2017, the Lope De Vega filly has plenty of scope, leg & a great walk. It is likely she will head to the 2017 sales

Back in after a brief let up, Honey Cara has put on 10kgs and is set for a crack at the Kembla Grange Classic over 1600m. In at the deep end, she will appreciate the step up in distance in what is expected to be a race full of quality 3YO fillies

Honey Cara's first racing prep has been very encouraging and above
expectations.

A November foal and immature when purchased, it was not looking likely
that she would make the racetrack as a 2YO. As she has definitely
thrown to her dams side (Zabeel) on conformation, we gave her all the
time needed & David and his team bought her along slowly.

Always showing that she could gallop, we made a trial and the fact she
made the racetrack and won on her debut was a huge bonus as David and
the team have stated from the outset that she is 6-12 months away. She
won at Canberra over 1000m on class alone.

At Rosehill she was up against a stiff field. In the mounting
yard, you could see that she did not have the physique of the other
2YO sprinting bulls - she was close to the tallest, was the longest &
leanest of the field. Despite this, we gave her a solid chance as she
can reel off a very strong last 600m. Previously she had shown enough
speed to race and trial handy enough to the field, however after 300m
you could see our girl was struggling to keep up with Carriages
applying a solid tempo. Thomas Huet did a good job by nursing our girl
for as long as possible as we did not want her to be ridden out of the
gates & driven along so that she could be unleash her strong sprint.
However, by the time we reached the 600m mark, she was 7+ lengths
adrift with no cover, being pushed along (all others were travelling)
and looking like she may drop out. As they straightened, she wanted to
hang out a bit in the straight, changed legs, looked around, ran up
behind them and finally got into stride over the last 150m to hit the
line strongly. Without having looked at the data, I expect she has run
the fastest (or close to it) last 200m of the race which is very
pleasing as she was struggling 600m out and didn't get her act
together until then. Clearly the short course wont be her go unless
first up next prep.

As we headed to the stalls post race to immediately check how she
pulled up as we thought the pressure may have taken a bit out of her,
we saw the same horse that had arrived on course. Her heart rate was
at 90bps, there was no panting or huffing, her ears were pricked and
she was really bright. It was as though she had not even gone around!
Honey Cara either enjoyed the run at Rosehill and sprinting hard the
last 200m (after finally putting it together) or she has an amazing
constitution. I suspect it is both. Genetically tested through Byron
Rogers Performance Genetics program, his results pointed to a filly
that has a strong aerobic capacity and one that will appreciate
1600m+.

She will now head to Emeran Park under the excellent care of Shannon.

We could not be happier than the start that has been achieved by our talented and immature filly - Honey Cara.

Purchased with a great pedigree, a walk that makes her look like she floats over the ground and an expectation that she will mature, Honey Cara has been given all the time she needed.

Perfectly prepared by David & Michael from Vandyke Racing, we must thank them and the team for their patience with this girl who is still quite green.  

Having trialled running times up with the best of the recent 2YO's over the last month or so (ie. 3 lengths quicker than Hellbent), the decision to go to Canberra was a masterstroke by David.  Going to the Capital gave her the opportunity to gain some experience.

The race was a bit of a crawl up front with Honey Cara slightly missing the start settling 3 wide at the tail facing the breeze.  During the run she was pressured from the outside, had Unyielding leaning on her from the inside and also copped a few prats. Despite this, Jess Taylor did not panic and rode her brilliantly. She allowed her to balance up and moved her forward heading into the straight where she hit the lead with 200m to go.  Stargazing once hitting the front & then laying out when Unyielding came up on the inside, Jess rode her on one reign & when pressure was applied she skipped away & was eased down approaching the line to win by close to 2 lengths.

Despite the mediocre pace, they still managed to run the 2nd fastest last 600m of the day when times reflected more of a Heavy 9 than a slow 7. 

Thanks for getting this far must be credited to a range of people who have all worked towards Honey Cara's development. These include: David & Michael from Vandyke Racing, Tom Inglis from Magic Millions, Darryl from Leigh Equine, Kate from Segenhoe & Mike & Mia Thew from Crowningstone.   

A great article has been written by Tara Madgwick on Honey Cara. See below.

http://www.breednet.com.au/news/112976/One-to-Watch-%E2%80%93-Canberra-

The future looks very bright for this filly and we will let her & David take us on the journey.