Improving three-year-old Rostova scored her maiden Group 1 success after three attempts in the $300, 000 Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (also known as the Sportingbet Classic) at Morphettville on Saturday.

The Steve Richards-trained roughie started the race at the generous price of $21 and went on to overcome her wide barrier 15 draw and defeat the odds-on favourite Velocitea ($4.40) by close to a length with the Anthony Cummings-trained Sister Madly in third.

Rostova, ridden expertly by Steven King, settled well back in the field to start before bursting through her rivals at the top of the straight to score a win in the 1200m feature.

The Mick Price-trained Velocitea gave chase and put the pressure on Rostova over the closing stages, but Rostova still had some in the tank and managed to hold on to her lead.

Rostova came into the spotlight last year when she was highly fancied to take out the Blue Diamond Stakes, but had failed to live up to the hype having not won a race until her comeback win on Saturday for nearly a year.

The winning Testa Rossa filly has now won five of her 14 career starts for $723, 475 in prizemoney. Proving herself to be a super sprinter, Rostova?s next big assignment will be the Group 1 The Galaxy (1100m) at Randwick on April 17.

The other feature event at the meeting was the $300, 000 Group 1 Australasian Oaks (registered as the Schweppes Oaks), which saw a dramatic upset where long-priced outsider Small Minds ($26) claimed victory and the $4 favourite Speedy Natalie fail to finish.

2010 Robert Sangster Stakes Results: