Although it developed into a case of “all’s well that ends well”, Jilliby Ballerini was in the bad books during the first attempt at Saturday night’s Kilmore Trotters Cup.
Breaking stride just before the release point, Jilliby Ballerini caused a false start, which resulted in the stewards handing the Marg and Paddy Lee-trained squaregaiter an “out of the draw” citation.
That means the daughter of Majestic Son must complete two successful starts before next Saturday night’s Great Southern Star Final at Melton.
Fortunately, the final is preceded by heats on the same night, so with a trial during the week, Jilliby Ballerini has the opportunity to work her way back into the draw before the $250,000 Group 1 decider.
The Lees are no strangers to this scenario, having performed the same routine with Keayang Chucky ahead of last season’s Great Southern Star.
Keayang Chucky finished third in a heat and the final.
“We were able to get a trial in during the week with Keayang Chucky, and then after a run in the heat, he got back in the draw for the final,” driver Jason Lee said.
“Unfortunately it’s a little bit of a headache, but we’ll just enjoy her win tonight for now.”
Better behaved during the second attempt, Jilliby Ballerini led throughout from the pole to score by five metres from her stablemate, Jilliby Dreamlover, which trailed the frontrunner throughout.
At $101, El Resamo upstaged his more fancied rivals to be three-and-a-half metres away third.
Rating 1:57.8 over 2180 metres, Jilliby Ballerini is unbeaten from four starts this season, with her overall record sitting on 15 wins and 10 placings from 30 outings for earnings of $291,692.
“She had to burn the candle at both ends tonight and still did it quite easily at the end,” Lee said. “She was switching off late, but I wasn’t asking her for much.”
