King's Rose Seals NZB Filly of the Year Title

With still two races left in the 2011 New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series, a standout performance by three-year-old filly King's Rose in $100,000 Group 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies Classic (2000m) put pay to her rivals around the country as she secured an unassailable lead in the Series and the prestigious Filly of the Year crown.

Saturday's performance at Te Rapa saw the Jason Bridgman trained King's Rose (Redoute's Choice x Nureyev's Girl) take her fourth win from four starts in the coveted New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series, and 22.5 points clear of her nearest rival, Smoulder.

Wins in the Group 1 NZB 1000 Guineas, the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes, the Group 2 NZB Royal Stakes and Saturday's Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic have seen her amass 34 points. With a total of 18 points up for grabs for the winner(s) of the final two races in the Series, King's Rose's new title is secure.

With Opie Bosson guiding the talented filly to victory, it was the lightly-raced, Roger James trained Insurgent (Ishiguru) who ran into second spot, finishing less than a length from the winner.

The ultra-consistent Annie Higgins (O'Reilly) continued her fine form in the Series as she notched up a third placing in the Group 2 fillies feature, taking her to a total of 8 points. She is now sitting in fourth position behind the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes winner Dating (O'Reilly) who has 9.5 points.

The Series win by King's Rose is the fourth for Te Akau Racing in the last six seasons, with the stable also training Shikoba (2005/06), Princess Coup (2006/07) and Insouciant (2007/08) to Series wins.

 Te Akau principal David Ellis was glowing in his praise for his star filly.

"She is a very good filly. She has raced in top form throughout the Series and she deserves to take the title."

"She's the fourth winner of the Filly of the Year Series in the last six seasons for Te Akau which is an incredible achievement for the operation. Each of our Series winning fillies has been part-trained in our South Island base which has proven to be a real success for us.

"She will just keep improving and she will be some horse as a four-year-old, but for now we will be looking to the next two legs of the Series, the Lowland Stakes and the New Zealand Oaks."

"She is a filly of great value and people can see why I went to such great lengths to secure her half-brother by Red Ransom from Karaka this year (Lot 466 for $875,000). People have been quick to secure a share in him and we only have one spot left in the colt which is great."

With New Zealand's assault on the rich Australian autumn looking stronger every day, Ellis is keen to support the New Zealand contingent and take King's Rose across the Tasman in the search of further Group 1 glory, targeting the Group 1 AJC Oaks.

With New Zealand bred Brazilian Pulse proving the star filly over ground in the Australian spring by winning the VRC Oaks, the AJC Oaks is shaping up as a brilliant race for the kiwis should the pair contest the race.

Bred by the Hong Kong based Dr Gene Tsoi, King's Rose has now won six of her ten starts, the last five in succession at black-type level, and has earned over $380,000 in stakes.

To view the points table for the NZB Filly of the Year Series, click here. The ninth leg of the ten-race Series, the $70,000 Group 3 Lowland Stakes over 2100 metres will be held at Hawke's Bay's Hastings track on 5 March.