The rest of the field proved no match for Thermosphere on Saturday as the impressive Godolphin three-year-old held off a late challenge to take out the Group 2 Edward Manifold Stakes over the mile at Flemington.

The daughter of Exosphere drifted a little right before the jump, but still managed to race every bit like a favourite under experienced jockey Damian Lane.

In the capacity field of 16, the champion hoop found himself doing it tough in a three-wide position rounding the home turn, which Lane then used to his advantage to get clear over the final furlong to stave off the very brave Chica Fuerte and Starelle in a sprint to the line.

“We were in a bit of an awkward spot, but Damian did well, got her three-wide at the corner and just had her in a lovely rhythm,” Godolphin stable representative Sean Keogh told racing.com.

“She came into the race well-conditioned from her races in Sydney and the riders up there told her that she’d be good over the mile and James was confident that she’d get it.”

Thermosphere will line up in next week’s Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield after holding on for a brave win on Saturday at Flemington. Photo: Steve Hart.

Thermosphere was unproven over the trip heading into Saturday’s start, but did indicate she wanted further in her third-up run when fifth behind Dame Giselle in the Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes at Randwick a fortnight earlier.

With three-year-old fillies from Sydney dominating in Melbourne over the last few weeks, the Godolphin galloper now looks to be one of the top chances on the short backup heading into next week’s $2 million Thousand Guineas (1600m) at Caulfield.

“It did look a bit tricky at the 600m there, but she didn’t get flushed out. It looked like Damian just wanted to keep her on the bridle and she managed to get into the race nicely and when he got stuck into her late, she found” Keogh went on to say when asked about how she handled the trip.

Thermosphere remains a $26 chance in the all-in 2020 Thousand Guineas betting markets at Ladbrokes.com.au, while there’s also a chance we see her line up in the Group 1 Kennedy Oaks back at Flemington on November 5.

“Absolutely, like I said, coming in to today well conditioned to win a race like this has been handy, so we’ll se how she pulls up and James and the team will have a chat later in the week and we’ll make a decision from there,” Keogh said of her future.

Starelle turned in an eye-catching run for second on what was a blustery day at Flemington, while Chica Fuerte likely gained a few admirers running a place.

The complete futures Thousand Guineas odds courtesy of Ladbrokes.com.au can be viewed here.

2020 Edward Manifold Stakes Results

Colour	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	1	THERMOSPHERE	James Cummings	Damian Lane		11	56kg		$3.60F
	2	16	STARELLE	Danny O’Brien	Daniel Moor	0.2L	13	56kg		$26
	3	8	CHICA FUERTE	Anthony & Sam Freedman	Ben Melham	0.3L	5	56kg		$8.50
	4	5	SUCCEED INDEED	Leon & Troy Corstens	Mark Zahra	2.3L	1	56kg		$7
	5	7	SILHOUETTE	James Cummings	John Allen	3.05L	2	56kg		$14
	6	10	YES BABY YES	Leon & Troy Corstens	Craig Williams	3.15L	12	56kg		$26
	7	11	MISS GUGGENHEIM	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Damien Oliver	3.25L	8	56kg		$6
	8	3	QUEEN OF ROCKS	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	William Pike	4L	3	56kg		$17
	9	12	BLAZING LACE	Dan O’Sullivan	Michael Dee	4.2L	10	56kg		$151
	10	15	SELFLESS	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Michael Walker	5.2L	7	56kg		$21
	11	6	A PINCH OF LUCK	Matt Laurie	Ethan Brown	6.45L	16	56kg		$13
	12	2	CAFE RIZU	Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)	Jye McNeil	6.55L	9	56kg		$61
	13	14	BELLA ROYALE	Lloyd Kennewell	Joe Bowditch	7.55L	6	56kg		$31
	14	9	MONTIA	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Jamie Mott	7.75L	15	56kg		$31
	15	13	ORPHELINE	Tom Dabernig & Ben Hayes	Luke Nolen	8.25L	4	56kg		$101
	16	4	DIVINE DIOSA	Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra	Jamie Kah	8.65L	14	56kg		$21

Table Credit: Racing Australia.