Prowess (NZ) Digs Deep for Historic Group One

With an astonishingly tough performance against elite older opposition at Pukekohe on Saturday, Prowess (NZ) (Proisir) became only the second three-year-old filly to ever win the $320,000 Group One Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2050m).

Joining the 1980s champion Tidal Light (NZ) (Diagramatic) as the lone fillies on the honour roll for the autumn weight-for-age showpiece, Prowess has now had eight starts for six wins, two placings and $957,740 in stakes. She was bought by her trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood for $230,000 at Karaka 2021.

Prowess is part of a vintage group of three-year-olds in New Zealand this season, alongside fellow Group One-winning Karaka graduates Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) (Redwood) and Legarto (NZ) (Proisir).

James and Wellwood have overseen an impressive rise to prominence by Prowess in 2023, having now strung together four consecutive stakes wins – the Group Two Auckland Guineas (1600m), the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m), the Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m) and Saturday’s New Zealand Stakes.

The New Zealand Stakes was the most impressive. The lightly raced filly was made to work hard by her seasoned opposition, posted out wide and covering plenty of extra ground through the first half of the race. But she advanced down the back straight to take up a prominent position just behind the leader, then was poised to pounce as the field approached the home turn.

Prowess swept to the lead at the top of the long Pukekohe straight, and she dug deep and called on all her fighting qualities when faced with a stern challenge from Campionessa (NZ) (Contributer) and La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos) in the final 200 metres. Prowess had little left in the tank but refused to surrender, holding Campionessa out by a long neck.

“For a moment there it looked like perhaps we might be going to get beaten, but she was just labouring with nothing in front of her,” Wellwood said. “When she saw the challengers come up to her, she kicked again. It was very impressive and very exciting.”

For James, the outstanding win vindicated a difficult decision to bypass last Saturday’s Group One New Zealand Derby (2400m) due to uncertainty around whether she would be suited to a gruelling race over such a long distance at this stage of her career.

“Any Group One victory is important, and especially for a filly, and that was pretty impressive,” he said.

“It doesn’t get any better. It wasn’t easy at all, because we were going to the Derby until 10 days ago and we made the decision not to, which was definitely the right thing to do.

“She was hand-picked from the yearling sales, and she is doing the job for her connections.”

Runner-up Campionessa is also a Karaka graduate, failing to meet her $70,000 reserve in Book 1 of Karaka 2019. The winner of the Group Two Rich Hill Mile (1600m) in January and placed in last month’s Group One Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m), the five-year-old has earned $379,585 from a 21-start career that has produced seven wins and eight placings.

Vendor	Hallmark Stud
Purchaser	Mr RA James/Mr R Wellwood (Waikato)
Breeding	Proisir – Donna Marie
Sale	Lot 353, Karaka 2021 Book 1, $230,000
Bred by	Hallmark Stud Ltd