Velvet’s smooth Hume Cup success

[Wandering Eyes]

Aston Velvet and Michelle Mallia combined to win the first Group 1 trophy of the inaugural Sportsbet Dream Chasers Festival, the $121,500 Hume Cup Final (600m), at The Meadows on Saturday night.

The only female in the $75,000 to-the-winner middle distance feature, Aston Velvet led all-the-way, holding near-record heat winner Pocket Money at bay.

It was second time lucky at G1 level for Aston Velvet, which ran third in the Sandown Cup (715m) in May, with her previous biggest win coming in the Listed Pink Diamond Champion Distance Final (660m) at Ballarat in June.

A daughter of dual country cup winner Aston Kimetto, bred and raced by Ray Borda, Aston Velvet had also led throughout to win her Hume Cup heat, defeating Jarick Bale in 34.26sec.

WATCH: ASTON VELVET (B5) led from go to whoa to win the Group 1 Hume Cup Final (600m) at The Meadows on Saturday night, defeating Queenslander POCKET MONEY (B8) by 1.9 lengths in 34.25sec.

Despite that result, Jarick Bale (Box 4) was backed into $3.80 favouritism in the final, ahead of Dookie Devil (Box 6) at $4.50 and Queenslander Pocket Money (Box 8), a scorching 33.98sec heat winner, just one length outside Dyna Double One’s track record, at $4.80.

Drawn in Box 5 for the third time in her three Group final appearances, Aston Velvet started at $9.90.

Aston Velvet came out running and while Pocket Money crossed into second, he could make no impression on the multiple Group staying finalist.

Aston Velvet defeated Pocket Money by 1.9 lengths in 34.25sec, with Wheel And Go ($8.10) finishing third.

The winning time was only .01sec outside Aston Velvet’s heat performance.

“Once she got to the front, I just know she’s such a strong 700m bitch,” an ecstatic Mallia told Molly Haines on Racing.com’s coverage.

“The pink (Pocket Money) on my hammer was scaring me because it put in such a phenomenal run last week.

“Oh wow, she’s such a good animal. She’s won almost $300,000 in prizemoney. You can’t ask for any more than that from a dog. It’s so exciting.

“To Ray Borda, we did it again!”

Aston Velvet has now won 16 of her 53 starts, with prizemoney of $283,888.

The Hume Cup heroine was the second leg of a winning double for Avalon-based Mallia, who won the 2012 G1 Hobart Thousand with Blackalls Boss, with Fernando’s Quest also making all over 600m in Race 3, clocking 34.39sec.

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