Justa Tad Crowned Filly of the Year

The prestigious title of New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year had already been secured by smart filly Justa Tad with an unassailable lead on the points table heading into the last race of the Series at Ellerslie on Saturday.

Justa Tad (Istidaad x Infinity) ran away with the Series this year following some sensational performances over the last six months. She put her first points on the table in a beautifully timed ride by Vinny Colgan in just the second race of the Series, the Group 3 Indian Danehill Lowland Stakes, sharing the lead with the winner of the first leg of the Series, Eloa (Volksraad x Cent From Heaven).

The Rudy Leifting trained filly shook off her rivals to take a solo lead in the Series following her Group 1 win in the New Zealand Bloodstock One Thousand Guineas. Justa Tad held onto pole position despite a win by La Sizeranne (Stravinsky x Tricia Ann) in the Goldstar Soliloquy Stakes in the fourth leg, and consolidated her lead by beating La Sizeranne in the Group 2 Robertson Holden Eulogy Stakes in December.

Justa Tad cemented her win in race eight of the Series in the Group 1 Smokefree New Zealand Oaks at Trentham on 22 January. In the face of doubts about how the filly might handle the distance in the Oaks, she fired up to win convincingly by three quarters of a length.

Of the 10 races in the Series, Justa Tad won four and finished second in the Group 2 New Zealand Bloodstock Royal Stakes.

Going into the final leg of the Series, the Group 2 New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Championship Stakes (2100m), it looked very much the race of Murray Baker trained filly Tusker (Volksraad x Stella Artois). The well-bred filly had won the last leg of the Series convincingly in the Group 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Classic.

The favourite got up to deliver in the $100,000 race producing an unmatched sprint 200 metres out from home.

El Bulli (Zabeel x Grace And Power) with Scott Seamer aboard was game in defeat, after leading for most of the race she battled on in the straight to run a good second. Zaria (Zabeel x Snow Quill) ran home for third.

The final results for the prestigious Filly of the Year Series are as follows:

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The hugely popular�New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series is strongly contested each year and has an attractive prize pool for filly owners, trainers and breeders, amounting to $25,000. The winning owner receives $15,000, the winning trainer $5,000 and the winning breeder $5,000.

Last year's Series title was won by the ill-fated filly, Taatletail, who won four of the ten races of the 2003/4 Series. Previous winners include the likes of Vapour Trail, Singalong, Sarwatch, Savannah Success, Tycoon Lil, Tartan Belle, Alacrity, Tartan Tights, Snap, Nimue & Lady Agnes

The New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series 2005-2006 begins in the Spring with the Group 3 Highview Stakes. For more information about the Series see the New Zealand Bloodstock website www.nzb.co.nz or phone 09 298 0055.