Magic Millions Classic hopes for the Gai Waterhouse-trained She's Bella took a hit at Warwick Farm on Wednesday but the dream is alive for Cessnock filly Madame Fly and her connections.
Madame Fly ($26) scored an upset win in the Vili's Pies 2YO Maiden Plate (1000m) while odds-on favourite She's Bella disappointed on debut, weakening in the straight to finish fourth.
Madame Fly, having her second start, showed the value of race experience as she let down in the straight to defeat debutante Tropical Force by a short neck with another first starter, Frill Seeking, third.
Winning trainer Robert Davies said he would consider where to go next in a bid to qualify for the $2 million Magic Millions Classic on the Gold Coast next month.
One option is the Wyong Magic Millions race on December 20.
"The main mission is to get her there to the Magic Millions," Davies said.
"She might have to have one more start.
"She has improved from her first start (at Newcastle) and keeps improving all the time. Unless I'm a bad judge, she'll improve again from today."
She's Bella, who had impressed in a barrier trial win, drifted from $1.40 to $1.80 and wasn't able to accelerate in the straight.
"I can't really offer an excuse," jockey Blake Shinn said.
"She jumped well and travelled where I wanted to be but there was just no `ping' when I asked her to go."
Joe Pride, meanwhile, snapped a frustrating period with a winning double in consecutive races courtesy of Purrfect and Bilko.
"That's racing for you," Pride said.
"I went last month without a winner. I'm a hard marker and it was the first time I could remember where I hadn't had a winner and it was killing me.
"I didn't think the horses were going that bad and I always knew when I got one winner, then I'd get another.
"It just seems to work that way."
Jockey Jay Ford had a lucky escape at the meeting after he was thrown from a horse, Vegasherewecome, during the third race.
Ford was attended to by ambulance staff on track but later emerged relatively unscathed.
"I'm alright. They just said I've got muscle soreness across my back," Ford said.