Cup Day Spotlight on NZB Filly of the Year Contenders
17 January 2025
Wellington Cup Day is one of the most time-honoured and iconic sporting events on the calendar for New Zealand’s capital city, and the NZB Filly of the Year Series gets to share in that spotlight on Saturday with the running of the $200,000 Group Three NZB Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham.
The Desert Gold Stakes is the seventh leg of an 11-race series and is worth 6 points for the winner, 3 points for second and 1.5 points for third.
Three of the runners in Saturday’s field already have NZB Filly of the Year Series points to their name – Leica Lucy (NZ) (Derryn) with 6, Connello (NZ) (Time Test) with 3 and Skymax (NZ) (Ferrando) with 1.5. They finished first, second and third in last month’s Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m) over the same course and distance on December 21 and are back for a rematch, along with the fourth-placed Renovations (NZ) (Ardrossan).
Saturday’s field of 10 also features the impressive recent winners Bellarista (NZ) (Belardo), Mirabella (NZ) (Sweynesse), Royal Sovereigns (NZ) (Ten Sovereigns) and Stockpin (NZ) (Tarzino).
The NZB Filly of the Year Series standings are headed by Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) with 21 points and Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) with 15, but those fillies are both now on a sprinting path centred around next week’s Group One Sistema Railway (1200m) at Ellerslie. They are unlikely to add to their tallies.
Real Class (NZ) (Vadamos) is third with 10 points, followed by Hitabell (NZ) (Embellish) with 8 and Leica Lucy with 6. Kitty Flash (NZ) (Ace High), Sethito (NZ) (Super Seth) and Bella Montagna (NZ) (Belardo) have 4 points each.
Movin’ Out (NZ) (Staphanos) has 3.5 points, which puts her just ahead of Connello on 3. Love Poem (Snitzel) and Island Life (NZ) (Vadamos) have 2 points apiece, while Damask Rose (NZ) (Savabeel) and Skymax complete the table with 1.5 points each.
The NZB Desert Gold Stakes will be run as Race 6 at Trentham on Saturday, with a scheduled start time of 3:28pm.
| # | HORSE | DRAW | COMMENTS | SALE | PURCHASER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leica Lucy | 3 | Leica Lucy (NZ) (Derryn) sits in fifth place on the NZB Filly of the Year Series table with 6 points. Her three-start career has produced two wins and a second, including a dominant last-start victory by two and a half lengths in the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Trentham on December 21. The Desert Gold Stakes will be run over the same course and distance on Saturday. | ||
| 2 | Connello | 9 | From 13 starts, Connello (NZ) (Time Test) has recorded three wins and three placings. She ran fifth in the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) in November, and she was a last-start second placegetter in the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m). Connello has earned 3 points in the NZB Filly of the Year Series, which puts her in 10th. Connello was bought for only $10,000 from the 2022 National Weanling Sale and has earned $113,165. | 2022 National Weanling Sale | DK Woodhouse, $10,000 |
| 3 | Bellarista | 2 | Bellarista (NZ) (Belardo) is part-owned by her breeders Haunui Farm, whose colours were carried to victory by Sudbina (NZ) (Almanzor) in this race last year. Bellarista has had four starts for a win, a second, a fourth and a fifth. She was a last-start second at Tauranga on January 2. | ||
| 4 | Skymax | 4 | Team Rogerson's Skymax (NZ) (Ferrando) has won only once in a 15-race career, but has proved herself at a high level throughout her three-year-old season. She ran sixth in the Group Two Soliloquy Stakes (1400m), sixth in the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), third in the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and sixth in the Group Two Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m). Skymax has earned 1.5 points in the NZB Filly of the Year Series. | ||
| 5 | Renovations | 5 | Renovations (NZ) (Ardrossan) has finished in the first four in six of her eight starts so far. She was a three-length maiden winner at Te Rapa in April, then finished second in the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre 2YO Stakes (1400m), fourth in the Group Three Gold Trail Stakes (1200m), seventh in the Listed O'Learys Fillies' Stakes (1340m) and fourth in the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m). | ||
| 6 | Anushka Shesastar | 6 | Bought for $130,000 from the 2023 Ready to Run Sale, the John Bary-trained Anushka Shesastar (NZ) (Proisir) has had six starts for a win, a third, two fourths and two fifths. In her only previous appearance at stakes level, she was a close fifth in the Listed O'Learys Fillies' Stakes (1340m) behind subsequent Group Two winner Hitabell (NZ) (Embellish). | 2023 Ready to Run Sale | N & P Balia Family Trust, $130,000 |
| 7 | Mirabella | 7 | Explosive Breeding's homebred filly Mirabella (NZ) (Sweynesse) has had seven starts for a win, a third, a fourth and two fifths. Her most impressive performance came in her most recent start, winning a maiden race by two and a half lengths at Ruakaka on January 7. | ||
| 8 | Royal Sovereigns | 10 | Offered in Book 2 of Karaka 2023, Royal Sovereigns (NZ) (Ten Sovereigns) failed to meet her $30,000 reserve. She has had three starts, finishing second on debut behind the unbeaten Komocean (NZ) (Ocean Park) before a seventh at Otaki and an easy last-start win at Trentham. | Karaka 2023, Book 2 | Psd, Res $30,000 |
| 9 | Stockpin | 8 | Stockpin (NZ) (Tarzino) finished eighth in the Listed Ryder Stakes (1200m) in her only two-year-old start, then returned to racing with a ninth at Ellerslie in December. In her only other start, she won by two and a half lengths in maiden company at New Plymouth on December 31. | Karaka 2023, Book 1 | Psd, Res $40,000 |
| 10 | Wooing Tree | 1 | A half-sister to the dual Australian Group One winner Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma), lightly raced filly Wooing Tree (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) comes into this race with only one previous start under her belt for a fifth over 1400 metres at Trentham on January 4. |