Australia: Montefilia goes longer in Kennedy Oaks

Montefilia will be an odds-on favorite to win her third consecutive Group 1 race in the $716,000 Kennedy Oaks on Thursday at Flemington Racecourse in Australia, with the only real suspense involving how she will handle the new distance of 1 9/16 miles.

A winner of 4 of 7 starts, Montefilia has not raced beyond 1 1/4 miles, a trip she handled without difficulty by winning the Group 1 Champion Stakes against 3-year-old males on Oct. 10 at Royal Randwick. Montefilia closed from sixth in a field of 13 to win by three-quarters of a length over Lion’s Roar.

As of Tuesday, Montefilia was 4-5 in early betting for the Kennedy Oaks, run for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies.

Trained by David Payne, Montefilia won her debut in March and was fourth in her stakes debut in the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick in September. By the Teofilo stallion Kermadec, Montefilia won her first stakes in the Group 1 Flight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on Oct. 3 at Randwick, closing from last of seven.

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Hugh Bowman was aboard Montefilia in the Tea Rose and Flight Stakes and has the mount in the Kennedy Oaks.

First post at Flemington is 8:40 p.m. Eastern, or 5:40 p.m. Pacific, on Wednesday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

Montefilia is part of a field of 14. All of the fillies are starting at 1 9/16 miles for the first time.

Jye McNeil, who won Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup on Twilight Payment, will ride the longshot Yatton, who is winless in four starts.

Personal, second in three consecutive Group 1 or Group 2 stakes since late September, and Miravalle, who was sixth in the Champion, are rated as the second and third choices in the betting.

Personal and Miravalle were second and fourth in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Flemington last Saturday. Personal closed from fifth to miss catching Victoria Quay by a neck.