The Anthony Cummings-trained Vergara has completed an impressive start to finish performance to take out the Group 3 Epona Stakes (1900m) at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon.

Vergara was rated only an outside chance of success in the Epona Stakes but did her claims absolutely no harm when flying the barriers and immediately taking a position on pace.

Settling into a good rhythm and receiving a soft run in transit alongside the likes of All Cerise and Skyline Blush, the Snippetson mare produced a strong turn of foot to pull clear and withstand a late charge from race favourite Heavens Above and Sweet Fire.

Jockey James McDonald was a late replacement for Daniel Moor and was understandably pleased to open his 2016 Golden Slipper Day account early in the Epona Stakes.

“It was a good, tough effort and she had to do it the hard way,” McDonald said.

“I wasn’t going to pull against her because there’s no point the two of us fighting each other.

“She relaxed reasonably well down the side and she picked it up for the 600m and was tough, too good for them.”

Cummings was pleased with Vergara’s performance to win the 2016 Epona Stakes and revealed a trip to Queensland for a race like the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) in early winter will likely figure as her final racing target.

“It was a really good judge of ride by James, he took the speed out of it and it took the other main chances out of it,”

“I thought All Cerise might have put more pressure in on the first part of the race but when she sat back off us it really handed the race up to the leader and that was us.

“We’re a bit sorry for Daniel because it was his advice was she should step up to the 1900m after last time, so it’s a bit sad he couldn’t have taken the benefit.

“There’s a few nice races for her through the Randwick Carnival so we’ll have a look at that.

“It’s probably going to be her last racing season so she’ll go through into Brisbane and we’ll look at something like the Hollindale.”

Punters who backed Vergara to win the 2016 Epona Stakes with Ladbrokes.com.au have been paid out on generous $12 odds for success!

2016 Epona Stakes Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	4	VERGARA	Anthony Cummings	James McDonald	–	7	55kg	$12
2	2	HEAVENS ABOVE	Tim Martin	Tye Angland	0.2L	6	56kg	$3.80F
3	6	SWEET FIRE	Chris Waller	Tommy Berry	0.5L	5	54kg	$7
4	7	ALEGRIA	John O’Shea	Tim Clark	0.7L	1	54kg	$8.50
5	11	PIAMIMI	Greg Bennett	Craig Williams	1.1L	8	54kg	$41
6	10	BLENDWELL	Peter G Moody	Damian Lane	1.2L	10	54kg	$17
7	3	ADORABEEL (NZ)	Joseph Pride	Sam Clipperton	2.3L	9	56kg	$13
8	8	MARY LOU	Anthony Cummings	Jason Collett	2.7L	11	54kg	$18
9	9	SKYLINE BLUSH	Anthony Cummings	Kerrin McEvoy	3.1L	4	54kg	$9.50
10	5	ALL CERISE	Chris Waller	Dwayne Dunn	4.1L	3	54kg	$6
11	1	GUST OF WIND (NZ)	John Sargent	Brenton Avdulla	7.4L	2	59kg	$15