"We've known she was special for a long way through and she went that close in the Surround in Sydney, she had no luck. We made a big call taking Taylor off and putting Jason on but he was last coming into the straight, kept his cool and ran right through them," Heathcote said.
After a fairly arduous campaign, Heathcote confirmed the filly would spell now, with a range of options to look forward to.
"She'll go to the paddock for sure. I was going to take her to Melbourne for the spring, but I'll need to re-evaluate that now because she hasn't had a break now for literally two preparations - only little band aid breaks but jeez, there are some nice fillies and mares races at Flemington isn't there?"
Jockey Jason Collett, who rode the mare to a 0.1L defeat in the Surround Stakes, was blown away by the feel Startantes gave him compared to in Sydney.
"The feeling I got when I pushed the button, I thought it was pretty good at Randwick when I just missed, but today it was unbelievable. Her turn of foot is electric," Collett said.
Snapdancer was left in front a long way from home and "probably deserved to win" according to jockey Ethan Brown, with $31 chance Palaisipan filling the placings. Race favourite Annavisto led the field and dropped out to finish 15th.