Tempted returns to Randwick on Saturday with the chance to add another major win to a record that already marks her down as one of the more accomplished three-year-old fillies in training, and the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint looks a race that should suit her right down to the ground. The Group 2 is run over 1200 metres for $1 million, and while there is no shortage of depth around her, the Ciaron Maher-trained filly again brings the strongest profile into the race. Racing NSW lists her with a rating of 110, drawn barrier eight with Chad Schofield to ride, and her overall record now stands at six wins, two seconds and two thirds from 11 starts, with four wins from seven attempts at the trip and an outstanding Randwick record of four wins and a second from five appearances.
What makes Tempted such a compelling horse to follow is that her form already extends well beyond her own age group. Her second placing behind Ka Ying Rising in last year’s Everest remains the run that instantly elevates her standing, not just because of the stage or the prizemoney, but because of the horse she chased home. Ka Ying Rising was recognised in the 2025 LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings as the world’s best sprinter, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club noting his rating of 128 and describing that recognition in exactly those terms. For Tempted to finish second to a horse of that calibre as a three-year-old filly was a performance of genuine substance, and it still reads as one of the strongest pieces of sprint form carried by any runner lining up in this race.
She has done little wrong either side of that Everest performance. After winning the Run To The Rose in the spring, she was third in the Golden Rose, then produced that outstanding second in the Everest before returning this preparation to win the Eskimo Prince Stakes and the Surround Stakes. Her latest two wins at Randwick have again highlighted what has become one of her real strengths: she is able to absorb pressure, travel behind the speed and still find strongly when the race begins to unfold. That makes her dangerous in a race like this, because she does not need everything to go perfectly to still be there at the right time.
This is not, however, a race she gets to win on reputation alone. Marhoona is the obvious danger and there is enough between the pair already to ensure the clash has real interest. Michael Freedman’s filly carries the same 110 rating as Tempted and comes in off a sequence that includes a Reisling second to Tempted before turning the tables in the Golden Slipper. She has kept progressing since then and looks the sort of filly who belongs in any discussion around the best of her generation. If Tempted is the one with the established elite sprint form, Marhoona is the rival with the right credentials to test her.
Beiwacht also brings serious depth to the race and his form ties in neatly with Tempted’s from the spring. He chased her home in the Run To The Rose before winning the Golden Rose, and that alone gives him a legitimate place among the key hopes. Chris Waller’s colt has the rating and the résumé to make his presence felt, and from barrier three he should get every chance to settle much closer and make the race uncomfortable for the filly. Devil Night is another who cannot be ignored after his Blue Diamond success and recent placings, while Grafterburners adds another layer as the unbeaten Queensland colt stepping into stronger company.
There are others with claims of varying strength. Skyhook was third behind Tempted in the Run To The Rose and resumed well enough to suggest he can improve second-up. Beadman has James McDonald aboard and at his best has shown enough to measure up in the right race, while Caffe Florian and Pallaton both add further depth even if they appear to have a bit to find on exposed figures. That is the nature of the race this year. It is not short on talent, and there are enough horses with black-type form to ensure the winner will have earned it.
Even so, the focus naturally comes back to Tempted. She has already shown she can match it with the best sprinters in the country, she has already beaten or matched several of these around key form lines, and she returns to a track where she has repeatedly produced some of her best work. That Everest placing behind Ka Ying Rising remains the run that defines her ceiling, but what makes her so appealing here is that she does not need to reproduce something extraordinary to win. If she runs to the level she has already established, she will take beating in the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint.
By Scott Bailey
