Eulogy Show (NZ) Captures NZB Airfreight Road to Jericho

Last year’s NZB Airfreight Road to Jericho (3000m) at Riccarton was a springboard to a second placing in the A$300,000 Jericho Cup (4600m) for Botti (NZ) (Jakkalberry), but a feature race much closer to home is on the agenda for the 2023 winner.

The $50,000 race was run at Riccarton on Saturday as the South Island’s annual qualifying race for the Jericho Cup, which will be staged at Warrnambool on December 3. The winner of the Riccarton event is guaranteed a spot in the Jericho Cup starting gate if they wish to contest the race, and sponsors NZB Airfreight provide a $5,000 equine airfreight travel credit to help make that happen.

But the 2023 edition of the NZB Airfreight Road to Jericho was won by Canterbury mare Eulogy Show (NZ) (Highly Recommended), whose connections are concentrating on their original spring goal – the $300,000 Group Three Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton on November 18.

Eulogy Show was an impressive winner on Saturday, improving on her fourth placing in the same race 12 months earlier.

The six-year-old mare sat outside the pace before advancing and taking command with 600 metres remaining. North Island raider Prismatic (NZ) (Savabeel) emerged from the pack and produced a determined challenge down the straight, but Eulogy Show kept lifting for jockey Samantha Wynne and held on to score a tough victory by three-quarters of a length.

“Sam rated her perfectly and that certainly helped get the win,” Balcairn trainer Centaine Spittles said. “She is a very tough mare once she gets to the front. She just loves it there, and Sam got her to drop the bit and relax and she had plenty of fight in the run home.

“She seems a little stronger this time in, and we know she goes best once she gets out to a middle- distance and beyond. She ran second on Cup Day last year over 2600 metres, so we know she can handle a good track and she likes it when things get tough.

“We would dearly like to sneak her into the Cup – that has been her goal all the way through.”

Eulogy Show has now had 30 starts for three wins, five placings and $90,520 in stakes.