By Paul Symes

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Vein Girl’s all-female ownership syndicate are already tickled pink with their filly by Blue Point (Shamardal), and the $60,000 bargain buy will now bid to deliver a first stakes success in Melbourne for her trainers Chris and Corey Munce in Saturday’s Cap d’Antibes Stakes (Listed, 1100m).

Despite some colder mornings than she has been accustomed to in Brisbane, Vein Girl has settled in well at Gai Waterhouse’s Flemington stables alongside travelling companion Payline (Shooting To Win), who will to the Manikato Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) at The Valley on September 26 after his fast-finishing fifth in the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m).

Having been born and raised at the Liston family’s Three Bridges Stud near Bendigo, Vein Girl’s return to Melbourne marks something of a homecoming for the filly, who burst onto the scene with a searing win in the $250,000 Magic Millions Debut (1000m) at the Gold Coast last December.

A valiant fifth in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) netted connections a cheque for $175,000 – including a very handy $100,000 Racing Women’s bonus – to provide her large ownership group with an already healthy return on their original investment from just two career starts.

The syndicate was put together by Munce Racing’s sales and client liaison manager Paula Newnham, whose brother Mark is enjoying a successful training stint in Hong Kong after relocating from Sydney.

Newnham and a large contingent of her fellow owners have made the trip south for Vein Girl’s Melbourne debut, with Munce Snr quipping that he may require earplugs should their girl down a deep field of fillies in the $175,000 contest.

Munce, who has trained a total of 23 stakes winners including five in partnership with his son, arrived in Melbourne on Friday afternoon to oversee Vein Girl’s final preparations. 

The Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m)–winning jockey revealed his main query was how she might handle the straight track, which in the past has undone many a good sprinter including Vein Girl’s granddam Victory Vein (Mr Henrysee), who won nine stakes races but finished down the field in the 2004 Newmarket Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m) at her only Flemington start. 

However, a suitably slick trial at Doomben at the end of July and an abundance of spring options for fillies persuaded Team Munce to embark on their Melbourne mission, with Craig Williams keen to stick with Vein Girl after partnering her in a recent gallop. 

“It’s obviously her first trip away from home but she’s taken everything in her stride so far,” Munce Snr told ANZ News. 

“She came back in really well and trialled nicely, so we wanted to give her the opportunity to run in some of the better races down in Melbourne and hopefully get some black type on her page. I didn’t expect the field to come up as strong as it has to be perfectly honest, but at least we’ll get a good guide on where she sits in the pecking order. 

“I think if she handles the straight she’ll run really well, but there’s always that query in the back of your mind when they haven’t seen a straight track before. I have no concerns over her ability or fitness, she’s a very tractable filly and for Craig to take the ride after he galloped her is also a big vote of confidence.

“We’ll know much more after Saturday but I would imagine she’ll only have two or three runs maximum in Melbourne, then we’ll bring her back to Brisbane for the summer carnival and target the Magic Millions [3YO Classic]. So we wouldn’t want to do anything to jeopardise that, but obviously it would be fantastic for me and the whole team if we could knock off a feature race in Melbourne this campaign.”

Given that Blue Point’s yearlings fetched up to $500,000 on the Gold Coast last year, Munce was understandably delighted to acquire Vein Girl for a fraction of that fee.

A minor issue with her stifle may have deterred some potential bidders, but Munce and his trusted bloodstock agent Arthur Hoyeau were prepared to take a chance on the filly, whose sister Blue Hawaiian has registered one win and five runner-up finishes from her six starts for Peter Moody and Kath Coleman. 

Blue Point, who had his service fee increased to €100,000 (approx. AU$176,350) by Darley for the 2025 northern hemisphere breeding season having sired 21 stakes winners worldwide, won’t be returning to Australian shores for the upcoming breeding season so future options to purchase his progeny may be limited. 

With that in mind, Munce may be closely monitoring his juvenile colt (Lot 88) offered by Queensland-based Tennyson Park at next month’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Horses In Training Sale.

“This filly is the only Blue Point we have in the stables, so we’ve got a pretty good track record with the stallion so far,” said Munce. 

“Her X-rays might have put a few people off at the sales, but it was only a minor issue so me and Arthur were happy to take a bit of a chance, and I’m very glad that we did because it hasn’t stopped her from running very fast. 

“I’d love to have a few more Blue Points in the barn, especially if they look like her. We’d probably be priced out of the market these days, but she’s shown that they don’t always have to come with a big price tag to perform very well on the racetrack.”

At just $120,000, Payline is yet another example of the shrewd shopping undertaken by Munce and Hoyeau. 

The consistent sprinter kicked off the calendar year in the best possible fashion by winning the Magic Millions Syndicate (1100m), giving the stable a second success in the $1 million contest following victory in 2023 for Centrefire, who like Payline was also sired by Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor).

Team Munce first formulated the plan to launch a spring assault in Melbourne after Payline peeled off some sizzling sectionals to grab third behind Sunshine In Paris (Invader) in the Doomben 10,000 (Gr 1, 1200m).   

After his intended run in the Manikato Stakes, Munce revealed that the five-year-old is likely to be set for a tilt at the VRC Champions Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) on the final day of the famous Melbourne Cup Carnival. 

“Payline ran a terrific race in the Moir,” said Munce, who also revealed that his Group 1-winning colt Cool Archie (Cool Aza Beel) would be targeted at the Magic Millions Guineas (RL, 1400m) this summer, before heading to Sydney in the autumn. 

“It proved to us that he has the ability to measure up against some of the better sprinters in the land. We’ll probably run him in the Manikato but if the field comes up particularly strong, we may look at the Gilgai the following week instead. 

“Either way, his main aim will be the Darley Sprint on the final day of the Flemington carnival. It’s always an incredibly strong race and I’m sure this year will be no different, but I do think he’ll enjoy racing down the straight. He really likes sitting back off a hot speed and if he got the right run through, I could definitely see him hitting the line strongly and finishing in the top three or four.

“It’s great for the stable to have two horses we think can be competitive in some of the better races during the spring carnival. Queensland has come a long way but the racing down here in Melbourne is on another level, so hopefully we can have a bit of luck and the owners can enjoy a great day out.”