Pearl Series Hits Pinnacle With Ellerslie Final
6 March 2025
The Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series provides lucrative returns to owners, breeders and trainers throughout the New Zealand racing calendar, but its undisputed pinnacle comes with the running of the $120,000 Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series Final (1400m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.
On top of its $120,000 stake, the annual final also carries a bonus payment of $100,000. The owner of the winning horse receives $70,000 of that amount, with $20,000 for second and $10,000 for third.
Saturday marks the second running of the Pearl Series Final, with last year’s inaugural race won by Grey Haze (NZ) (Dalghar).
This year’s edition has drawn a talented field of 11 fillies and mares, including stakes-performed three-year-old fillies Vegas Queen (NZ) (Proisir), Sexy And I Moet (Pierro) and She’s Untouchable (Capitalist).
The Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series Final serves as a curtain-raiser for the eagerly anticipated Champions Day card at Ellerslie on Saturday, which features more than $8m in stakes across a spectacular 10-race card. The Pearl Series Final is Race 1, with a scheduled start time of 12.15pm.
The Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series is a bonus scheme for Southern Hemisphere-bred fillies and mares. The scheme includes up to 100 individual races for fillies and mares over four seasons' racing, with bonuses for each race of $28,000.
The series has been designed to benefit owners, trainers and breeders of fillies and mares running in New Zealand, with races available in all regions of the country. All bonuses are cumulative, so a horse can win multiple bonuses throughout her racing career.
Yearlings must be nominated for the Series prior to the NZTBA deadlines as per their website. This is generally July 31 each year before yearlings turn two years of age. Earlybird nominations are open until March 31, saving up to $500 + GST on entry fees for yearlings purchased at Karaka in January.
| # | HORSE | DRAW | COMMENTS | SALE | PURCHASER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vegas Queen | 7 | Vegas Queen (NZ) (Proisir) boasts quality bloodlines, with her second dam Operavega (NZ) (Stravinsky) being a half-sister to the dam of the legendary Winx (Street Cry). Vegas Queen's dam Miss Vegas (NZ) (Carlton House) is a half-sister to the dam of the highly talented Gringotts (NZ) (Per Incanto), who has won more than A$3m from a 19-race career in Australia. Vegas Queen has herself had seven starts for a win, three placings and $91,500 in stakes. She ran second in the Group Three Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie in January. | ||
| 2 | Amazonia | 9 | Trained and part-owned by John Bell, Amazonia (NZ) (Swiss Ace) has shown real promise in a five-start career. She has already won on two occasions, including a dominant last-start win by two lengths at Pukekohe on January 19. | ||
| 3 | Bow Hill | 1 | Bow Hill (NZ) (Satono Aladdin) has so far had 12 starts for three wins, three placings and $47,290 in stakes. She ran third at Trentham in December behind subsequent Group Three performer Loch In Ora (NZ) (Pierro). Bow Hill was last seen in January with a sixth placing over 2200 metres. | ||
| 4 | Pax Mundi | 8 | The Tony Pike-trained Pax Mundi (Mendelssohn) made a big impression over this distance two starts ago, powering away to win by three and a quarter lengths at Te Rapa. That was the third win of a 17-race career that has also produced three placings and $51,555 in prize-money. | ||
| 5 | Francee | 10 | Francee (NZ) (Iffraaj) is a daughter of quality mare Calveen (NZ) (Canny Lad), who was a Group One winner at this track in the 2005 Easter Handicap (1600m). Francee is no stranger to big occasions at Ellerslie herself, producing a booming finish for third in the $110,000 Stella Artois 1500 Championship Final (1500m) there on Boxing Day. | ||
| 6 | Sexy And I Moet | 3 | Pierro filly Sexy And I Moet made a big impression in the spring, winning her first two starts of the season at Taupo and Tauranga. That earned her a shot at the big time and she was far from disgraced, finishing fourth in the Group Two Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) behind Alabama Lass (Alabama Express), Kitty Flash (NZ) (Ace High) and Love Poem (Snitzel). She may have found 1600 metres too far when unplaced in the Group One New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) in November. Sexy And I Moet resumed with a seventh over 1200 metres at Pukekohe on February 23. | ||
| 7 | Bonifleur | 5 | Pencarrow Stud's homebred mare Bonifleur (NZ) (Burgundy) brings a consistent formline into this race. The four-year-old won by three and a half lengths at Ruakaka on December 18, then finished third at Tauranga and a last-start second at Te Rapa. | ||
| 8 | She's Untouchable | 11 | She's Untouchable (Capitalist) began her career with a win and a placing, then stepped up to stakes class and finished third in the Group Three Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), sixth in the Group Three Almanzor Trophy (1200m) and a last-start eighth after a wide run in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m). | Karaka 2023, Book 1 | SB Marsh, $160,000 |
| 9 | Delorean | 6 | Bought for $32,500 from Book 2 of Karaka 2021, Delorean (NZ) (Time Test) has earned $88,860 from a 25-start, two-win career. She resumed over an unsuitably short 1200 metres at Matamata on February 15, finding the line solidly despite a tiring wide run. | Karaka 2021, Book 2 | PA Willetts, $32,500 |
| 10 | Mafia Mamma | 2 | Mafia Mamma (NZ) (Belardo) saves her best for Ellerslie, where she was a winner over 1200 metres in October and a close third two starts ago on February 1. | ||
| 11 | Boss 'N' Highheels | 4 | Boss 'N' Highheels (Written Tycoon) had no luck with a wide run in the Group Three Almanzor Trophy (1200m) two starts ago, but bounced back into form with a last-start third over this distance at Matamata. |