Faint Perfume confirmed her status as Australia’s best staying filly with an paralysing finish to win the G1 Storm Queen Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.

Faint Perfume (3f Shamardal – Zona by Zabeel) is trained by Bart Cummings for Dato Tan Chin Nam and she will now attempt to complete the VRC Oaks – AJC Oaks double.  The only fillies to sweep the two classics in the last 30 years have been Research (1989), Grand Archway (1999) and Serenade Rose (2006).

Champion filly Light Fingers, who went on to became Bart’s first Melbourne Cup winner, completed the double way back in 1964-65 and the master trainer is quietly confident Faint Perfume is up to the task.  “She has a big heart and reminds me of Light Fingers,” Cummings said.  “She’s a little thing but has got a great constitution.”

Faint Perfume is by Darley sire Shamardal (Giant’s Causeway) who is currently sitting right behind Coolmore shuttlers High Chaparral and Fastnet Rock on Australia’s second season sires’ premiership.

The Storm Queen winner is out of a Zabeel mare who retired a maiden but her second dam Danendri was trained by Bart to win the 1997 AJC Oaks for Dato Tan Chin Nam and Wynyarra Stud’s Ananda Krishnan.

Faint Perfume has raced 10 times for 5 wins and $1.37 million.  After a breakthrough victory at Warwick Farm in June 2009, she travelled to Melbourne to complete the G2 Wakeful Stakes – G1 VRC Oaks double.

The Shamardal filly resumed from a 16 week spell for a dynamic victory in the G2 Kewney Stakes back at Flemington on March 6.  She was unplaced against older mares in the G1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill second-up and appreciated the drop back to her own age on Saturday.

Dato Tan Chin Nam catalogued Faint Perfume for the 2008 Inglis Easter yearling sale but she failed to make a $44,000 reserve.  He has catalogued a Pendragon half-brother to Faint Perfume (Lot 273) as part of the Think Big Stud draft at this week’s Inglis Easter yearling sale.