Lowland Stakes Contenders Vying for Crucial Points in FOTY Series
2 March 2006
New Zealand Bloodstock's Filly of the Year Series reaches its penultimate stage on Saturday, with the running of the Gr.3 Devan Plastics Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Trentham.
The race is the ninth leg of the 10-race Series for three-year-old fillies, which concludes with the Gr.1 New Zealand Bloodstock New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham on March 18.
With Series leader, Shikoba (Chief Bearhart x Summary), absent from Saturday's event, it is a good opportunity for the chasing pack to close the gap on the star filly. She is currently 12 points ahead with 24 points on the points table, with 6 available to the winner on Saturday, and a further 12 available to the winner of the Oaks.
Leading chances in the Lowland Stakes include Kevin Gray & Robert Patterson's consistent filly, Legs (Pins x River Century) and the John Sargent trained Everswindell (Align x Hilarion Lady). Both fillies are currently in equal fourth position in the Series with 9 points apiece, 15 points behind Shikoba.
Legs enters the event with a consistent form record having won three of her five starts and runner-up on the other two occasions. The daughter of Waikato Stud sire, Pins, was an impressive last start victor lumping top weight of 58kgs to victory in the Rough Habit 3YO Fillies Handicap (1800m) at New Plymouth.
Equally impressive was the run of Everswindell when third to Shikoba in the Gr. 2 Cambridge Stud Sir Tristram Fillies Classic (2000m) at Te Rapa on February 11th. A daughter of Align, Everswindell continues to give the impression that a step up in distance will suit. The John Sargent trained runner has tended to race back in the field and will be hoping a genuine pace is set up front.
Another representative of the Highview Stud sire is the Gary Vile trained Out Of Align (Align x Limerick Lea), which will be looking to return to the form that saw her defeat Legs two starts back at Trentham. Out Of Align finished in eighth place behind Shikoba in her most recent outing after over-racing in the early stages.
Well-bred filly, Asmahan (Zabeel x She's Country), raced by Brent and Cherry Taylor of Trelawney Stud, caught the eye with a promising fifth in the Sir Tristram Fillies Classic and is making steady improvement with every start.
Murray Baker's flashy filly, Molta (Danske x Heaps) has been performing well in weaker grade and deserves her chance against a stronger field in the Lowland, while Kruger Valley (Kaapstad x Eastend) turned in a game performance when a narrow second to Legs at her most recent outing.
John Sargent will have a two-pronged attack on the race, with talented filly Sharvasti (Montjeu x Vedodara) racing over ground for the first time.
Others in the field include Fortitude (Stark South (USA) x Phacelia), Southern Gal (Stark South (USA) x Al Be Nif Te), Many Danske (Danske x Selene Star) and Nurse Molly (Colombia x Freon).