Eight Carat Classic Draws Aussie Entrant

This year's Group 2 Eight Carat Classic has drawn Australian galloper Basra (Desert King x Dupion). The Gai Waterhouse trained horse will face a quality line up of New Zealand fillies on Boxing Day at Ellerslie.

Steve Brem, Waterhouse's racing manager, is very happy with the filly but despite winning four of her seven starts he warns the filly has not yet faced a real test on the track.

Some of the New Zealand horses hoping to provide this challenge include the likes of Roger James trained La Sizeranne (Stravinsky x Tricia Ann). The filly has showed impressive ability throughout the season culminating in her win in the Listed Soliloquy Stakes two starts ago. Her win and three second placings in the series have secured her 18 points and second position on the table.

Arlingtonboulevard (Spinning World x Golden Bridge), who won her last start impressively at Matamata, is the other filly to watch. The Mark Walker trained filly also ran a very respectable fifth in the New Zealand Bloodstock One Thousand Guineas in November.

The absence of series leader Justa Tad (Istidaad x Infinity) gives other Filly-of-the-Year hopefuls an important opportunity to cut back her lead.

The points standings going into the sixth race are:

Justa Tad 26

La Sizeranne 18

Eloa 8

Julinsky Princess 3.5

Clean Sweep 3

Spin 'N Grin 2

Sheka 1.5

Sista 1.5

Volk Dancer 1

The next race in the series is the Group 2 New Zealand Bloodstock Royal Stakes on 3 January 2005 at Ellerslie. The 2000 metre event is worth $120,000.

The New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series points table is updated after each race on New Zealand Bloodstock's website www.nzb.co.nz . For further information about the series please contact Julian Phillips at New Zealand Bloodstock, julianp@nzb.co.nz