High Fashion All Class in G3 Lowland Stakes

Connections of the exciting three-year-old filly High Fashion (O’Reilly x Pin High) could not have asked for a better performance ahead of the Group 1 NZ Oaks, proving a class above her rivals in Saturday’s $70,000 Group 3 Bruce Perry Bloodstock Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hawke’s Bay.

The Lowland Stakes was the penultimate leg in New Zealand Bloodstock’s Filly of the Year Series with the final race of the 10-race Series – the Group 1 NZ Oaks – to be held next weekend at Trentham.

With the NZ Oaks always the target for High Fashion she showed that she is ready to run a big race as she produced a flawless performance under a great ride from jockey Hayden Tinsley.

Ridden back in the field with just two fillies behind her, Tinsley got to work on High Fashion 700 metres from home, bringing her wide on the turn and stepping up a gear in the straight to win by two lengths.

“She’s a very good filly,” commented her trainer Kevin Gray. “She always gives her best and she was pretty special today.

“The Oaks has always been the target and all going well she will be heading to Trentham in two weeks.”

The victory was High Fashion’s second in NZB’s Filly of the Year Series for her owners Howard and Pam Forbes as she won the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes at Trentham in January. She now sits in fourth place in the Series with 12 points.

Waikato Stud sire O’Reilly sired the trifecta in the Group 3 with the Peter & Dawn Williams trained Chandelier running second earning 3 Series points and Emerald Queen finishing third, earning 1.5 points.

High Fashion was bred by Garry Chittick and was purchased by Stephen Gray from Waikato Stud at the 2011 Karaka Premier Sale for $30,000. The filly has now won four of her nine starts for just shy of $110,000 in stakes.

To view the current points table for the Filly of the Year Series, click here.

Next Saturday’s Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) is the final leg in NZB’s 2013 Filly of the Year Series and will offer 12 points to the winner. The Oaks is shaping up as an exciting race with Saturday’s Derby winner Habbibi (Ekraar) and Derby runner-up and current Series leader Fix (Iffraaj) nominated for the race. To view the Oaks nominations, click here.