Moon shines brightly to break maiden

HAVING “put the writing on the wall” during her previous outing, Purple Moon broke her maiden at Club Menangle yesterday.

Contesting the New South Wales Foundation Final at the same venue on June 13, Purple Moon finished second behind the short-priced favourite Superior Stride as a $126 outsider.

Competing against older rivals this time around, the Mark Lefoe-trained filly scored as a $9 chance.

“She put the writing on the wall with her run before,” Lefoe said. “I knew she would go close as she just trots, which helps.

“She has been doing her best all along and gotten better with every run, it was just a matter of time before things went her way.”

With Will Rixon in the cart, Purple Moon was settled two-back along the pegs as Frankythefrenchman led the field in ‘Indian file’.

Taken four-wide at the top of the home straight, Purple Moon reached the lead in the final stride to score by a neck from Frankythefrenchman.

After dashing to the front along the back, Affaire De Cover battled on to be a metre away third as the winner rated 2:00.7 over 2300 metres.

“I was pretty confident with her, it just came down to what run she got,” Lefoe said. “In the end things went her way and she made the most of it.

“She’ll have one more run at Menangle on July 4 then go for a spell.

“She’s already come from nothing to doing plenty in a short period and I’ve got no doubt she will come back better next season.”