King's Rose Wins NZB 1000 Guineas

The Group 1 $300,000 New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas saw the well-bred filly King's Rose down a talented field of three-year-olds to take Group 1 honours at Riccarton on the final day of the Christchurch Carnival on Saturday.

Racing wide throughout the running, Opie Bosson took the Jason Bridgman trained King's Rose (Redoute's Choice x Nureyev's Girl) to the centre of the track in the home straight and set out after the leading pack. At the 200 metres Bosson and King's Rose really got to work, taking the lead and fighting off Magic Briar (Thorn Park x Alberton Magic) to win the Group 1 feature by three-quarters-of-a-length.

The race was not without its controversy as an incident in the straight saw a number of fillies including We Can Say It Now, Twilight Savings and Magic Briar all getting into trouble. The protest was upheld resulting in Magic Briar being relegated from second to fifth with Twilight Savings (Secret Savings x Ghemashah) and Smoulder (Traditionally x Flying Firebird) being promoted to second and third respectively.

Saturday's win showed that even with a change at the training helm, Te Akau Stables remain a force to be reckoned with as Jason Bridgman claimed his first Group 1 event for the stable since his predecessor Mark Walker relocated to Singapore. Te Akau also won the Listed $45,000 Berkley Stud Welcome Stakes earlier in the day with Bespoke (Pins x Velvet and Satin).

Te Akau Stables has a great track record with the Guineas races at Riccarton having won five in the last six years with King's Chapel, Darci Brahma, and Tell A Tale taking the 2000 Guineas, and Insouciant and King's Rose winning the 1000 Guineas.

David Ellis, the principal of Te Akau was thrilled with the win.

"We bought her down to our South Island base in June with the sole purpose of getting her ready for the race so we are very happy with the result.

"We will sit down now and have a chat to the team and decide future plans. We want to keep her racing in the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series. We have won the Series three times in the last five years and we are going to try and win it again."

Mark Walker trained Insouciant to win the Series in 2008, Princess Coup in 2007 and Shikoba in 2006.

A host of fillies who have won the 1000 Guineas have gone on to claim the final crown, including the last three winners Katie Lee, Daffodil and Insouciant.

Bred by longstanding client of NZB, the Hong Kong based Dr Gene Tsoi, King's Rose has taken the lead in the NZB Filly of the Year Series with 12 points. From her seven race day starts, the daughter of Redoute's Choice has now won on three occasions with one placing for over $220,000 in stakes earnings.

Second place in the Series is currently the NZB 1000 Guineas runner up Twilight Savings who has been awarded seven points for her performance, and Rememba Howe moves into third on six points.

A half-brother to King's Rose by Red Ransom has been nominated for the 2011 Karaka National Yearling Sale Series along with a half-sister to Smoulder by Bachelor Duke and a half-sister to Magic Briar by Golan.

To view the leaders table for the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series, click here.

The next leg of the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series is the $70,000 Group 3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Manawatu on December 11.

New Zealand Bloodstock's National Yearling Sale Series will run from January 31 to February 7 2011. Catalogues for Karaka 2011 will be available from 26 November 2010, for more information visit www.nzb.co.nz.