Te Akau trainer Jamie Richards believes white Luminous has the talent to match her distinctive appearance, and he will give her a chance to prove it in the Gr. 2 Valachi Downs Royal Stakes at Ellerslie on New Year's Day.

The pure-white daughter of Reliable Man was an $85,000 yearling at Karaka in 2017, and Te Akau principal David Ellis purchased her for $180,000 at the Ready to Run Sale later that year.

Luminous is still a maiden after two starts, but she has produced a powerful finishing burst on both occasions. She was slow to begin on debut at New Plymouth last month, but flew home from fourth-last to finish second over 1200 metres.

Stepping up to 1400 metres at Matamata earlier this month, she again began slowly before producing another huge late run for second.

“She's a filly who's absolutely crying out for 2000 metres, and she'll get that in the Royal Stakes,” Richards said.

“I'm very happy with her - her work has been really strong. I don't often like to run a maiden galloper out of their grade, but she's shown a bit of promise and I think she can measure up.”