| I was sent some correspondence from the trainer's association secretary John Rouse re insurance which I found quite alarming. When I approached the Chairman Alan Brown on Saturday he appeared to have no knowledge of our predicament. Racing NSW has a meeting tomorrow where I hope it will be discussed and thrown out the door. We were the bridesmaid except at Kembla on Saturday where Cap Dancer scored by two lengths on debut. Singo and his group race the filly and they also have the pleasure of racing Once Were Wild winner of five from six starts. What a great result from the Punters Club 2yo Brightexpectations who almost stole the show in the G3 Skyline when finishing a most tenacious short head 2nd to Hichinbrook. The colt will line up again on March 27th in the Darley stakes in his quest to make the Golden Slipper field. He had not raced since the Magic Millions on January 9th before enjoying two weeks at GT Park spelling farm. With just one 740m trial under his belt he came out and gave the rest of his opposition a donkey licking. Matty Ellerton's filly Crystal Lily was most impressive winning by many lengths and it will be interesting that we won't see her and Michael Tubman's filly Chance Bye till Slipper day. This bonny filly that Kathy O'Hara has so brilliantly partnered, reminds me so much of Dance Hero in that she just keeps winning. I'm visiting George Altomonte's Curumbene Stud today. It's a shame Racing NSW didn't contact me earlier to attend their Autumn carnival launch but George got in early and had me booked to visit his horses. I'm sure it will be a huge success! Classic run continues for Volksraad three-year-olds The progeny of New Zealand's leading sire Volksraad continued their excellent form at Ellerslie yesterday, when his 3YO daughter, A Chance To Dream was an impressive winner of the Sunline Vase L. (2100m). The win comes hot on the heels of another Volksraad 3YO Military Move who was a dominant winner of Saturday's $2.2million Telecom NZ Derby (2400m). In what many described as the most impressive performance in any Oaks lead-up race this season, the John Sargent-trained filly A Chance To Dream dashed away from a strong field to win by a widening four lengths. "She's a very good horse when she gets over ground on a good track," trainer John Sargent said. The first time that happened was her last start when she left maiden class by six lengths". A Chance To Dream was bred and owned by Otaki businessman Tom Jamison, whom Sargent has a long relationship with. "I've trained for him since I first started training in Otaki in the 1980s," Sargent said. "He's had a few horses with me but this would be the first one that looks like she's a group class filly." The win earned A Chance To Dream a start in the $300,000 Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) on March 20, for which she is now a $5 second favourite behind Keep The Peace. Interestingly as the field loaded into the gates for the Vase, jockey Mark Du Plessis had five possible Oaks mounts and faced a difficult choice between them. Just over two minutes later, that decision had been suddenly made incredibly easy. Second-placed November Rain, who at her previous start failed by only a length to rein in Katie Lee in the Sir Tristram Fillies Classic at Te Rapa. Another Oaks bound Volksraad filly Corsage was third after backing up from a 4th in the Gr.3 Lowland Stakes at Hastings on Saturday The Sunline Vase has proven to be the most significant lead up race in recent years with the last two winners of the NZ Oaks, Jungle Pocket and Boundless both running in the Ellerslie feature prior to the fillies classic. 
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