Prominent owner-breeder John Cornish looks to have a promising filly in Stardom, who triumphed in the Woodlands Stakes on Saturday.

Cornish, a former Australian Turf Club chairman, bred Hong Kong stars Hot King Prawn and Voyage Bubble. He also raced Stardom’s dam, 2017 P J Bell Stakes winner Diddums.

He was thrilled to see Stardom join the list of illustrious winners of the Woodlands Stakes (1100m), which includes Group 1 winners like In Secret (2022) and Group 1 placegetters Lazzura (2024) and Libertini (2019).

“I think we’ve deserved it. A few drinks have gone past since we’ve had a good filly,” Cornish said. “I thought she might have been beaten two, three times but (she put her) head down and she kept coming. That’s a good sign in a baby, isn’t it?”

Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Stardom had placed third behind rivals Akaysha and Beadman on debut before breaking her maiden with a dominant win at Wagga.

Jockey Adam Hyeronimus praised the Tulloch Lodge team for her preparation: “Horses that come from the stable, they’re so sharp out of the gates and it puts them in a really good position to be dominant like she was today.”

Stardom ($3.60) kicked clear in the straight, winning by a long neck over Wollzeile ($26), with Akaysha ($2.40 fav) finishing third.