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By Brad Gray
At Royal Randwick

It’s a serious name for a serious race horse.

I Am Serious further improved her already outstanding record to seven wins from 11 outings in Saturday’s ATC Owner Benefits Card Mile (1600m) at Royal Randwick, but she hasn’t yet finished her ascendance through the grades.

The four-year-old daughter of Choisir had to come from second last in the testing conditions with Punters Intel revealing she ran her last 600m in 35.39s, but it was her 400m to the 200m that won the race as she recorded 11.40s, which was two lengths superior to anything else in the field.

I Am Serious won easily in the end

"It was a good win,” said jockey Tye Angland, “I found my spot and (Aaron) Bullock started to pull back a little bit which took me out of the race.”

“I thought I had too much ground to make up. She took a few strides and a little bit of riding but I didn’t want to do too much on her because she was making up a lot of ground.”

Bullock said his mount Our Gravano travelled like the winner himself but as soon as the leader Veladero put the pressure on 500m from home, he was left flatfooted.

“He either hasn’t handled the week back up or is looking for further,” added Bullock.

Charlie Duckworth, representing Chris Waller, ruled out a throw at the stumps at the G1 Tatts Tiara in two week’s time with I Am Serious.

“We’ve got a few going there already and it is probably a step too soon. We could probably win a couple more before stepping her up in that level,” said Duckworth.

Time to get serious, punters!

I Am Serious parades in excellent order on the back up from last week. pic.twitter.com/g6QHRTq6iH

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) June 9, 2018

Duckworth conceded the stable were concerned about the heavy conditions but after a chat with the mare’s owner and former trainer Bob Haire, they devised a plan to let her find her feet and set sail down the middle of the track.

“She had to dig really deep all the way to the line so it probably means she is going to see further than the mile. She is adaptable on multiple surfaces and a mare still on the up,” Duckworth said.

“Having a happy horse and a horse willing to put their neck on the line, improves them lengths and makes our job much easier.”

Check out the results and replays for Royal Randwick on Saturday.