Proxima Dea might not have the looks, but she’s got the will to win Spring Champion

October 23, 2026 — 5:00am

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Trainer David Payne is not one to mince words; he openly calls his undefeated filly Proxima Dea ugly. But she might just be the ugliest beautiful horse in Australasia right now.

After she defied 33 years of history to lift herself off the canvas to capture the group 3 Gloaming Stakes last start, punters don’t care what she looks like. Nor does Payne.

What matters is her freakish will to win and a motor that’s custom built for Saturday’s $2 million group 1 Spring Champion Stakes at Royal Randwick.

The standard racing playbook says fillies don’t win the Gloaming. Proxima Dea was the first to do so since Constant Flight in 1993. Fillies certainly aren’t supposed to look beaten at the 150-metre mark and then still find a way to burst through. Yet, that is precisely what this daughter of Tarzino did.

She might not turn heads in the yard, but Proxima Dea does possess arguably the most important asset – a big will to win.

The step up to........

© The Sydney Morning Herald