UPTOWN Lola continued her stellar form for Kyneton trainer George Osborne by notching a third-straight win in little over a month.
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The five-year-old mare boosted her career record to six wins and five placings from 24 starts with a tough-as-nails come from behind victory at Warrnambool on Sunday.
Uptown Lola ($4.80) gave Osborne a few nervous moments in the straight when she appeared to be struggling to rein in the front-running Mount Gambier-trained galloper Damascus Moment ($5).
But with two-kilogram claiming apprentice Alana Kelly holding her nerve, the mare had something in reserve and was able to edge out Damascus Road and the fast-finishing Tea Tales ($15) on the rail to highlight her resilience and claim a narrow victory.
Speaking post-race on Racing.com, Osborne was in no doubt his mare was racing in career-best form.
"She is airborne, she is as good as she has been her whole career," he said.
"I think just a lack of problems (has been the key), she's got a few issues and there's a lot of things we have to get right, but we've got it right this preparation.
"She hasn't caused me one problem and it makes it a lot easier when you don't have to go home and fix problems all the time."
Osborne praised Kelly for a wonderful ride aboard Uptown Lola and admitted to a few nerves as the mare battled to get on level-terms with the leader.
"I thought she was in trouble (halfway up the straight), but credit to Alana - I used her a lot early on and I think she;s really furnishing now," he said.
"She had a little bit of a lull in her career, but I think she's really coming along now.
"She's caught up to the others and I think she's going fantastic.
"She obviously knew what she had under her and she had a little bit left and she saved it for the right time."
After finishing second in her return from a 12-week spell at Kyneton on October 13, Uptown Lola kick-started her run of three-consecutive wins with a benchmark 58 1000m victory at Echuca on October 28.
The daughter of Danerich and Cross Town followed up with success on Kyneton Cup day in a 1000m benchmark 70 for fillies and mares before making it three-straight at Warrnambool.
Osborne, who moved to 12 wins for the 2020-21 season, narrowly missed adding another on Sunday, after Uptown Lola's older sister, Uptown Lilly, was relegated into second place at Traralgon in another tight finish.
In an almost carbon copy of Uptown Lola's race, Uptown Lilly engaged in a titanic battle with Eagle Spirit in the home straight before finishing less than a length shy of the Craig Blackshaw-trained winner.
"It just went a little bit pear-shaped, I thought we'd be the leader, but we didn't get there," Osborne said.
"To the credit of the leader it won the race. She tried her heart out and she just got beaten. It was almost identical (to Uptown Lola).
"Little sister is going to have bragging rights when they all got home."
It was a second-straight minor placing for the six-year-old mare, who is a winner of six of 33 starts, following a second behind Regal Rossa at Donald earlier in November.
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