NZB Southern Filly Series Wide Open With Two Legs Remaining

With the winners of the first two legs of the series set to play no further part, there is everything to play for in the final two races of the 2023-24 NZB Southern Filly of the Year Series – starting with Saturday’s third leg, the $80,000 Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton.

Each of the four races in the prestigious series are worth 7 points to the winner, with 4 for second and 2 for third. The lead is currently shared by the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) winner Viva Vienna (NZ) (All Too Hard) and the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1400m) winner Drakaina (NZ) (Ace High) with 7 points each.

But neither of those two fillies will add to their totals. Viva Vienna had a bone chip removed from a fetlock in January, while Drakaina was sold to Western Australia after her last-start NZB Airfreight Stakes heroics at Wingatui in early March.

That leaves the NZB Southern Filly Series race wide open with two legs remaining. Saturday’s field of 18 fillies features just two who have already earned points – Sense Of Timing (NZ) (Time Test) with 4 and Epee Beel (Epaulette) with 2. So the NZB Insurance Stakes and next Saturday’s Listed NZB Warstep Stakes (2000m) will make all the difference in deciding who takes home the NZB Southern Filly title and a policy from NZB Insurance to the value of $50,000 plus GST.

There is no shortage of impressive credentials among the NZB Insurance Stakes field, with all of the 18 entrants already being race winners, including black-type performers No Rain Ever (No Nay Never), Quintabelle (NZ) (Embellish), Sense Of Timing and Epee Beel.

The NZB Insurance Stakes will be run as Race 6 at Riccarton on Saturday, with a scheduled start time of 3.16pm.