Dream Start for Alamosa with Group 1 Filly

Kiwi filly Kirramosa (NZ) (Alamosa) provided her young sire Alamosa with a dream start to his stud career, becoming the stallion’s first Group 1 winner from his first crop to race, with a resounding victory in the Group $1,000,000 VRC Crown Oaks (2500m) yesterday at Flemington.

Kirramosa (NZ) triumphs in the Group 1 Crown Oaks yesterday at Flemington.

New Zealand-bred sire Alamosa stands at Wellfield Lodge, who bred and part-own Kirramosa, with the sire represented by 13 Lots at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale of 2YOs later this month.

Trained by trans-Tasman trainer John Sargent, the Karaka Select Sale graduate started as race favourite for the three-year-old fillies’ showpiece following a decisive victory in the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes last Saturday, the traditional lead-up race for the Group 1 Oaks.

“It was fantastic,” said a delighted Sargent. “We couldn’t have got a better result for the New Zealand breeding industry or for myself.

“We have been doing it a bit hard with no Melbourne Cup runner this year, then out we come and win the time-honoured Group 1 Oaks which is fantastic race to win with a New Zealand-bred horse, and now we are going to see a very good stallion in Alamosa.”

With top jockey Nash Rawiller aboard, Kirramosa broke well from the barriers and Rawiller used his judgment to settle the filly mid-field in the 10-horse event, handier than her last start win where she was dropped to the tail of the field.

A strong pace was set in the race with Kirramosa looming to the lead in the straight, but she had a titanic battle on her hands with second favourite Zanbagh (Bernardini) challenging on the inside. The kiwi filly eventually got the best of her rivals to triumph by a head at the end of the long Flemington straight.

“The problem was always going to be the back-up and we didn’t see her sprint like she did on Saturday,” commented Sargent. “It was more of a grinding win, which was down to having to back-up, but I probably had to do it because she was so well and it would have been tough to go from a mile to 2500m.

“I decided the Wakeful was the race to be in before the Oaks. 21 of the last 30 winners have come through the race so we went the same path.

“She has the constitution to do it, she has a great temperament and that probably got her there more than strength. She isn’t an overly robust filly yet but she will have six weeks out now and she will really bloom.

“She is a very tractable filly, very relaxed. I put the hood on three starts ago, she should have won all three but she won two and was a second in Group races.

“She is very laid back and wasn’t concentrating and all the riders that have ridden her have said that she is fantastic and a breeze, she is the right horse. She doesn’t get phased in the birdcage, she just walks around. I think attitude is 90% of a horse and she has got it.

“Any horse that can win first up you know has a bit of class and she showed that second up in the Manawatu Sires Produce. She has just gone from strength to strength since then and she is just getting stronger.

“The owners from Wellfield Lodge weren’t here on Saturday for the Wakeful but were yesterday so it will give them a big boost going into the Ready to Run and Yearling Sales knowing that Alamosa’s progeny can step up to the Oaks distance, if not they will be milers.

“Everyone was asking about the sire yesterday so it will give him a big boost and the whole New Zealand industry to have a winner like that at this Carnival. With Sacred Falls and a few others this weekend kiwis still have some good chances for more success.”

Kirramosa’s success was her fourth from eight starts. She started her career at Sargent’s New Zealand stable with a win on debut before running fourth in the Group 1 Manawatu Sires Produce. The filly travelled to Australia at the start of this season and has been consistent with three wins, a narrow second placing and never finishing further back than fourth.

She is owned by her breeders Wellfield Lodge in conjunction with John Sargent and Mrs G L Reily & Mr W J Reily, earning them A$834,328 in stakes money.

Kirramosa was sent to the 2012 Karaka Select Sale with a modest reserve of $40,000 that was unable to be met so Wellfield Lodge retained the filly. She is out of the unraced mare Freyja (Danske), a daughter of New Zealand Filly of the Year and Group 1 winner Olga’s Pal (Straight Strike). Freyja has left three winners to date with Kirramosa becoming her first stakes winner.

New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale, on 19 & 20 November, features over 100 stallions, including Alamosa, with catalogues and Breeze Up clips available online now along with the free iPad application. Catalogues and DVD copies of the Breeze Ups can be ordered by contacting reception@nzb.co.nz.