Canberra trainer Nick Olive notched his third black-type win of the season when Pinatubo filly Voynichese took out last Saturday’s $160,000 listed Show A Heart for two-year-olds at Eagle Farm.
Coming off an Albury maiden win and having just her third start, Voynichese drifted from $12 to start at $17.
But the filly could not have been more impressive, unleashing a powerful finish under Declan Bates to win by a length and a quarter from the heavily backed favourite, Glenorchy. 
“We’ve always had a good opinion of this filly,” Olive said. “She’s only little but she just feels so progressive. 
“If she pulls up well, we’ll definitely think about backing her up in the J.J. (this Saturday’s  Group 1 J.J. Atkins Stakes).
Olive was quick to praise the ride of Bates, saying: “He gave her a perfect ride today and it worked out beautifully. 
“I just knew if she got buried away she’d finish off strong. It was pretty impressive the way she put them away.”
For his part, Bates was duly impressed.
“She’s only a little filly to look at but she doesn’t feel little when you’re riding her,” he said. “She really lengthens nicely and she’s got a beautiful stride on her. She was far superior today.
“We probably got to the front too soon because she had a little look around so it was just a matter of keeping her mind on the job. The race was effectively over at the top of the straight.” 
Bates retains the ride for Saturday’s J.J. Atkins, with Voynichese to jump from 10.
Voynichese’s win follows the successes of stable star Spicy Lu in this season’s Group 3 Ethereal Stakes and listed Princess Stakes.
Wana’s a winner
At Randwick last Saturday father-daughter training partners Brett and Georgie Cavanough celebrated their first listed race success together when Wanaruah took out the $200,000 listed Bob Charley Stakes over 1100 metres. 
Wanaruah ($4.80) raced on the pace and held on to score by three-quarters of a length from fast-finishing favourite General Salute. 
“It was a good field today but from a tricky draw Kerrin (McEvoy) took luck out of the equation and got the job done,” Brett Cavanough said. 
“He could be a really good horse. I’ve taken it one step at a time with him and there are some pretty exciting spring races coming up so we won’t overtax him. 
“We’ll get him home, regroup and see where we go.”
The trainer then acknowledged the contribution of others to Wanaruah’s success. 
“All my family work hard behind the scenes and that’s what make these days happen. 
“Hard work and good staff.”
Danny dominates Highway
Earlier on the program, the 1100-metre Class 3 TAB Highway Handicap for country gallopers saw Goulburn trainer Danny Williams provide both the winner and the third placegetter from four starters in the 14-horse field. 
The win went to the second-roughest of Williams’s quartet, She Within ($19), ridden by Chad Schofield. 
The mare scored by three-quarters of a length from well backed $2.90 favourite Wayburn, with the Williams-trained Exit Fee ($3.30) a close-up third. 
“To be honest, I thought she (She Within) was our best outsider,” Williams said. “I know I had four in it but there’s not a lot between them at home.”
Schofield said She Within “finished really well”. 
“She didn’t show much speed early and I knew I just had to save some ground so I went back in, cut the corner and got the gaps at the right time,” he said. 
“She really responded well to being ridden like that. 
“She loved coming through them and grew in confidence.”
Whistle up
Another Goulburn trainer among the winners at Randwick was Matthew Dale, with Bravissima ($8.50) in the 1600-metre benchmark 78 for fillies and mares.
The five-year-old finished strongly to reel in Bird Whistle, who had attempted to lead all the way, to win by a half-length. 
“She gave me a lovely ride,” said jockey Nash Rawiller. 
“It ended up being a nice, genuinely run race, which suited her, and I thought she was always where I needed her. 
“She’s had a couple of lead-up runs from wide gates and so forth and probably for that reason she was more explosive when the run came.”
Follow these
A pair of well backed $2.25 favourites were the most impressive winners at Wyong last Sunday, staring with the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Onmalone in the $60,000 Super Maiden over 1200 metres.
In the following race, the 1100-metre maiden, the Joseph Pride-trained Declan was impressive in a 4½-length win at his third race start and first of the campaign.
Andrew Adkins rode Onmalone while Adam Hyeronimus steered Declan.
At Murwillumbah the same day the powerhouse local stable of Matthew Dunn supplied four winners including Too Hot To Torque ($2.20 favourite), ridden to victory by Nick Heywood in the feature benchmark 66 Lennox Cup (1200m).
Cups and a Cannonball
This Saturday sees the Bligh Amateur Picnic Race Club hold its annual meeting at Mudgee in the central west, featuring the 1850-metre Bligh Picnic Cup. 
It’s also cup day at Walgett in the state’s north, with the feature over 1400 metres. 
Sunday is Coonamble Cannonball day, with the $35,000 feature to be run over 1000 metres, but the meeting has been transferred to Warren. 
Sunday action is also at Port Macquarie for the $40,000 Wauchope Cup (1500m), the $30,000 Wauchope Sprint (1000m) and a $50,000 Super Maiden over 1500 metres.