Captured By Love Wins 1000 Guineas Thriller

Arch-rivals Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) and Alabama Lass (Alabama Lass) treated a big Riccarton crowd to a memorable duel on Saturday in the third leg of the NZB Filly of the Year Series – the $550,000 Group One Barneswood Farm 52nd New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).

The pair had established themselves as the two best fillies of their generation, and they had finished first and second in both of their two previous meetings. Captured By Love beat Alabama Lass in the Group Two Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) in February, then Alabama Lass reversed that result in the Group Three Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) in September.

Saturday marked the third clash in their growing rivalry, and again they both delivered superb performances. This time they stepped up on to the Group One stage, and this time it was Captured By Love who shone the brightest.

Alabama Lass adopted her usual front-running tactics, and despite being considered suspect at the 1600-metre distance, she still had plenty of fight as the intensity rose in the home straight.

But Captured By Love and visiting Australian jockey Josh Parr quickened through along her inside, and after a hard-fought tussle in the last 150 metres, she found that bit more and pulled away to beat her old foe by a length and a quarter.

“It feels great to win a Group One race in New Zealand,” Parr said. “Middle to three-quarters of the way out on the track is the place to be, but it opened up on the middle to inside, so I took the shortcut. We idled up alongside the favourite and she was the stronger filly.

“The Te Akau team has been great to me in the past and they’re huge contributors both here and in Australia.”

Captured By Love was bought by David Ellis as a yearling and is trained by Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson. She has had 10 starts for five wins and five placings, earning $703,435 for the Te Akau 2023 Magic Fillies' Breeding Syndicate.

“That was a great win,” said Mark Walker, who trains in partnership with Sam Bergerson. “Well done to our racing manager Reece Trumper for getting the services of Josh Parr.

“At the top of the straight it could have got ugly, but Group One jockeys make Group One decisions and Josh got a lovely run through on the inside.

“It’s been an interrupted preparation for Captured By Love, but the 1000 Guineas was the one we wanted. Full credit to Sam – I’ve spent a lot of time at our Melbourne stable during the spring. He held his nerve by not giving her a hard gallop on Tuesday, just didn’t think she needed it, and the result was a very satisfying win for everyone involved.

“She’s only going to improve heading into the autumn, so very exciting times ahead for Captured By Love.”

Captured By Love was Te Akau’s seventh winner of the prestigious 1000 Guineas at Riccarton.

“It’s a privilege to win this race for the seventh time,” Karyn Fenton-Ellis said. “Congratulations to David Ellis for buying this filly, the owners who understand how good she is, and Mark and Sam for the way they have managed her through a somewhat difficult preparation.

“Today she showed all the spirit and class that she possesses, and thank you to Josh Parr for coming over and riding such a great race.

“Nothing gives us more joy than to win a race like the 1000 Guineas for such a great group of owners, and it’s a special privilege to be on the podium accepting the awards from the Canterbury Jockey Club.”

Captured By Love earned 12 points from Saturday’s big win, which lifts her NZB Filly of the Year Series total to 15. That puts her second on the table behind Alabama Lass, who still holds a clear lead with 21.

The lightly raced Movin Out (NZ) (Staphanos), who flew home for third in only the third race of her career, has joined the NZB Filly of the Year Series table with 3.5 points.

The next leg of the NZB Filly of the Year Series is the $100,000 Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m), which will be run at Trentham on December 21.