Vinery farewelled Red Ransom mare Typhoon Tracy last week safe in the knowledge Sydney star More Joyous will keep the flag flying this year.

More Joyous is by Vinery’s champion sire More Than Ready and she made a dazzling return to racing in the G2 AJC Breeders’ Classic at Randwick on February 12.

More Than Ready weighed in with another popular winner when his outstanding mare Augusta Proud flew home in the Alan Scott Park Hcp at Morphettville on Saturday.  She is trained by Leon Macdonald and was racing first-up after being sidelined for nine months.

Augusta Proud (5m More Than Ready – Kadasha by Langfuhr) won her first six starts including the Gold Coast and Adelaide 2YO Classics for part-owner and breeder Kerry O’Brien.  Her unbeaten run came to a halt in the 2008 G1 Golden Slipper won by Sebring.

The More Than Ready filly had been passed in at the 2007 Adelaide Magic Millions yearling sale when she didn’t reach O’Brien’s reserve of $50,000.  The former Olympic athlete syndicated the filly to Port Augusta based owners John Canham, Brian & Michael Gloede, Dale Larkin, Gerard McConnal, Peter Moran and Leon Macdonald’s wife Pam.

O’Brien will almost certainly retire Augusta Proud this year.  She is the only filly left to continue the family line after her dam Kadasha died in October 2007.  The mare’s only other foal Kardashian (Dubai Destination) also perished shortly after foaling a Casino Prince colt in October 2010.

Macdonald and his training partner Andrew Gluyas were firing on two fronts on Saturday.  They also won the G3 VRC Vanity Stakes at Flemington with unbeaten filly Southern Speed.

Southern Speed (3f Southern Image – Golden Eagle by Zabeel) holds an entry to the G1 VRC Australian Guineas but will most likely be reserved for the G2 Kewney Stakes.  She is raced by Harry Perks, Trevor Robertson and Rod Fairclough who have been long-time stable clients of Macdonald.

After her Melbourne campaign, Southern Speed will return home to contest the G1 Australasian Oaks at Morphettville on March 26.  Her sire Southern Image (Halo’s Image) stood at Vinery for four seasons until a change of ownership in the USA stopped his shuttling days.