NZB Filly of the Year Series Round 4 this Weekend

New Zealand Bloodstock’s Filly of the Year Series moves into the fourth leg of the 10-race Series on Saturday with the running of the Group 3 $70,000 Ezibuy Eulogy Stakes run at Awapuni Racecourse.

The current leader of the Filly of the Year Series is Group 1 New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas winner Costa Viva (Encosta de Lago) who will bypass this event, with the Jason Bridgman trained filly heading towards the following Filly of the Year Series race, the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic, at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

A field of 12 promising fillies has been attracted to this Saturday’s feature race at Awapuni headed by Whistling Dixie (NZ) (Pins). The Graeme and Debbie Rogerson trained filly was a winner as a two-year-old and has been competitive in strong fields in her three runs this campaign including a meritorious seventh last start after enduring a tough run throughout the race.

Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie will travel down with his lightly tried filly Zaperb (NZ) (Volksraad) for a tilt at black-type success. The filly by Volksraad was a winner on debut and has been narrowly beaten in her next two starts, finishing second on both occasions.

Well-bred filly Miss Selby (NZ) (O’Reilly) was an impressive last start winner, breaking her maiden status at her third start. The filly out of Group 2 Waikato Gold Cup winning mare Singing Star will look to carry the same colours her mother did to win a stakes race on this day nine years ago.

Another well-bred filly is Porotene Gem (NZ) (Thorn Park), a half-sister to Group 1 winning filly Eileen Dubh. The Robert Patterson trained filly was a winner on debut and was narrowly beaten at her last start, running on strongly when second on the Awapuni track.

Pencarrow Stud will be looking to add valuable black-type to the family of Makarska (NZ) (Keeper) who is trained by Matamata duo Ken & Bev Kelso. The Keeper filly backed up her maiden success two starts ago with a luckless fifth last start when she was held up at a vital time in the straight.

The Sandie Cookson trained Queen of Ur (NZ) (Patapan) was a strong winner two starts ago when beating race rival Miss Selby at Otaki. The Patapan filly was a game fifth at her last start and has the benefit of barrier two on Saturday.

Local trainer Lisa Latta has Red Melody (NZ) (Stravinsky) engaged in the Group 3 feature on her home track. The Stravinsky filly was an all the way winner on the course two starts ago before running fourth in a strong form race last weekend at Wellington behind Kawi.

Another northern visitor is The Fire Inside (NZ) (Sir Percy) from the stable of Mike Moroney and Chad Ormsby. The Sir Percy filly capped a run of solid minor placings at her first two starts with a victory at Te Rapa last start and rider Mark Sweeney travels down to partner the filly once again.

Two-year-old winner Optimisitc (NZ) (Alamosa) has competed in multiple stakes races in her career including her last start when she was seen running on in behind Lucia Valentina in the Group 3 Wellington Guineas. The daughter of Alamosa, sire of Group 1 winning filly Kirramosa already this season, is trained locally by Kevin Gray.

A trio of maiden runners round out the field with all three coming close to wins having each run second at least once. Handlewithcare (NZ) (Keeper) has finished second in both her raceday appearances and Roulett (NZ) (Alamosa) was runner-up at her only start. The last runner in the book, Catalina de Lago (NZ) (Encosta de Lago) was second on debut for another local trainer Mark Oulaghan.

The winner of the Eulogy Stakes will receive 6 points towards the NZB Filly of the Year Series with second (3 points) and third (1.5 points) also collecting valuable points in the Series. To view the full field for the Eulogy Stakes, click here.

2013/2014 Filly of the Year Leaderboard