Exciting Finale for NZB Filly of the Year Series
16 March 2017
The 2016-17 New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series is going right down to the wire in Saturday’s 10th and final leg, the $300,000 Group 1 Wellfield New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham.
With 12 points awarded to the Oaks winner, there are three possible Filly of the Year Series champions in Saturday’s field – Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi) currently tops the table with 15.5 points, while Nicoletta (NZ) (Savabeel) and Devise (NZ) (Darci Brahma) are both within striking distance with 10 and 6.5 points respectively.
Those three fillies have fought a fierce rivalry through the second half of the Series. In the Group 3 Wellfield Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), Nicoletta was first with Devise second and Bonneval third. Then Bonneval took out the Group 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic (2000m), beating Nicoletta and Devise. In the Group 3 Little Avondale Lowland Stakes (2100m), Bonneval again came out on top with Devise third and Nicoletta fourth.
Second in the lowland was the Series newcomer Savvy Dreams (NZ) (Savabeel), who is again among the opposition in Saturday’s classic. She has 3 Filly of the Year Series points to her name.
Other runners in Saturday’s field who appear on the points table are Dreamcrafter (NZ) (Mastercraftsman) with 3, Date Night (NZ) (Savabeel) with 2 and Dame Margo Fonteyn (NZ) (High Chaparral) with 1.5.
In addition to the 12 points available for the winner, the second placegetter in the Oaks will pick up 7 points and the third-placed filly will earn 3.5.
The country’s best staying fillies are converging on Trentham from Waikato, Canterbury, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Taranaki, Wanganui and Auckland, making the time-honoured New Zealand Oaks a true battle for national supremacy.
The Oaks will be run as race 8 on Saturday with a start time of 4.36pm.
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Bonneval | 10 | The clear leader in the NZB Filly of the Year Series and the hot favourite for the Oaks, Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi) has been impressive in scoring back-to-back wins in the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (2000m) and the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) in her last two starts. Her siblings Imposing Lass (NZ) (Makfi), Lady Cumquat (Duke of Marmalade) and Full of Spirit (Flying Spur) are all Group winners. | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Matt Cameron |
| 2 | Dreamcrafter | 7 | Apart from finishing seventh over 1200 metres on debut, Mastercraftsman filly Dreamcrafter (NZ) hasn't finished outside the placings in her seven-start career. She has won twice, and in her last start she stepped up to stakes level for the first time and ran second to Eleonora (NZ) (Makfi) in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m). | Michael Moroney & Pam Gerard | |
| 3 | Dame Margo Fonteyn | 6 | High Chaparral filly Dame Margo Fonteyn (NZ) has won twice in her five-start career and ran third in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m) at her most recent appearance. She will try to deliver a classic double for her trainers Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards, who won this month's Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) with Gingernuts (NZ) (Iffraaj). | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | Johnathan Parkes |
| 4 | Nicoletta | 4 | Carrying the colours of Lib Petagna's JML Bloodstock, also worn by last year's Filly of the Year Sofia Rosa (NZ) (Makfi), Savabeel filly Nicoletta (NZ) has been one of the most consistent performers this season. Stablemate of the favourite Bonneval, she has finished fifth in the Group 2 Royal Stakes (2000m), first in the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), second in the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (2000m) and fourth in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m). | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Michael Coleman |
| 5 | Zigwig | 13 | South Island filly Zigwig (NZ) (Zacinto) was a Listed winner as a two-year-old and has recorded impressive back-to-back wins over 1600 metres and 2100 metres in her last two starts. | Nick Wigley | |
| 6 | Date Night | 14 | A daughter of the Group 1-placed mare Dating (NZ) (O'Reilly), Date Night (NZ) (Savabeel) has run third in the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), second in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m) and fourth in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m). However, her only start at this course was an 11th-place finish in the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m). | Graeme & Debbie Rogerson | Lisa Allpress |
| 7 | Savvy Dreams | 3 | Savvy Dreams (NZ) (Savabeel) has had just four starts. She won on debut on New Year's Day, then ran fifth and fourth before stepping up to stakes level and running a close second to Bonneval in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m). | Guy Lowry & Grant Cullen | |
| 8 | Devise | 15 | From the stable of Shaune Ritchie, who trained the Oaks winners Keep The Peace (NZ) (Keeper) and Artistic (NZ) (Darci Brahma), Devise (NZ) (Darci Brahma) is a previous winner at Trentham. She has been admirably consistent in recent starts, finishing fourth in the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), second in the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m), third in the Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (2000m) and third in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m). | Shaune Ritchie | Jonathan Riddell |
| 9 | Shared Secrets | 11 | Nadeem filly Shared Secrets (NZ) is another who has had just four starts, finishing fourth in the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) before winning last time out in the St Leger Trial (2100m). | Mark Oulaghan | |
| 10 | Fashionably | 2 | Another member of the Autridge-Richards stable, Fashionably is one of the best-bred runners in this year's Oaks field. She is by Redoute's Choice out of the multiple Group 1 winner Scarlett Lady (NZ) (Savabeel). She has won once and never finished further back than fifth in her five-start career, running a fast-finishing fifth in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) last time out. | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | Cameron Lammas |
| 11 | Incantesimo | 5 | Per Incanto filly Incantesimo (NZ) was unplaced in two starts at stakes level in the spring, but she has shown improvement since then including a late charge to win a 1600-metre maiden at Avondale in late January. She is from the stable of Graham Richardson, who trained Strada Cavallo (NZ) (Alamosa) to finish third in this race last year. | Graham Richardson | |
| 12 | Rube Bridges | 12 | An impressive winner on New Year's Day, Rube Bridges (NZ) (Darci Brahma) was clearly unlucky when sixth after an interrupted run in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m) two weeks ago. | Stephen Marsh | |
| 13 | Korokonui | 1 | All American filly Korokanui has had a win and two fourths in her six-start career, and she was doing her best work late in the piece when sixth in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) last time out. | Ralph Manning | |
| 14 | Vencedora | 9 | Vencedora (NZ) (Ekraar) was a maiden winner in December and has acquitted herself well in black-type company in her last two starts. She came with a nice late finish into fourth place in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m), then was making ground down the straight when seventh in the Group 3 Sunline Vase (2100m). | John Wheeler | Trudy Thornton |
| 15 | Imogensmiles | 16 | Sufficient filly Imogensmiles (NZ) has been placed in two of her six starts. She over-raced when finishing 10th in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m). | Janenne Dalley | |
| 16 | Ave Maria | 8 | Ave Maria (NZ) (Bachelor Duke) is a maiden but has finished in the first five in seven of her 10 starts. She has had an unusual preparation including starts at Westland and Wairoa, but trainer Kevin Myers famously followed an unorthodox path from Wairoa to New Zealand Derby glory with C'est La Guerre (NZ) (Shinko King) in 2008. | Kevin Myers |