Back-to-Back Stakes Successes for Luvaluva (NZ)

Saturday’s A$150,000 Listed January Cup (2000m) at Randwick was the fifth stakes win, and the second in a row, for the $55,000 Ready to Run Sale graduate Luvaluva (NZ) (Mastercraftsman).

Trained by John Sargent, Luvaluva was a star three-year-old who won the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes (2000m), Group 3 Keith F Nolan Classic (1600m) and Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m).

She lost that winning form as a four-year-old, but still placed at Group 1 level in the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).

On Boxing Day she broke her winning drought with a dominant performance in the Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m), and Saturday’s feature race was more of the same.

After sitting in second-last place behind a very slow pace, rider Koby Jennings got her rolling a long way from the finish. She surged forward out wide to be right in the thick of the action rounding the home turn.

The result was never in doubt from there as Luvaluva cruised to the front and opened up a comfortable winning margin of three-quarters of a length at the finish line.

“We didn't get the suck into the race and had to go a bit earlier, but I thought that might happen, because it was so slow early,” Sargent said.

“She is now in form and she's got a bit of confidence. We thought, if she went well today, we might try to get a Group 1 in New Zealand.”

The target Sargent has in mind is the $400,000 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on February 8.

Luvaluva has now had six wins from 28 starts, earning A$842,514 – more than 15 times her purchase price.