Serena Miss Sights G1 2000 Guineas

Karaka graduate Serena Miss (NZ) (Iffraaj) scored her second stakes win yesterday with a powerful performance in the $100,000 Group 2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m) at Te Rapa.

Serena Miss (NZ) victorious in the Group 2 James & Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes. Photo courtesy of Trish Dunell.

Serena Miss is the second progeny of Iffraaj to win a black-type race this weekend to have come through Karaka after Group 1 winner Turn Me Loose (NZ) won the Group 2 Schweppes Crystal Mile at Moonee Valley – a graduate of NZB’s Ready to Run Sale.

Trained by Graeme and Debbie Rogerson, Serena Miss was a stakes winner as a juvenile, after winning the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes. She entered the race having finished a narrow second in the Group 3 Hawke’s Bay Gold Trail Stakes last start.

“It was a superb win,” commented Debbie Rogerson. “The time she ran the race in really shows her class.

“She will definitely head to the Group 1 2000 Guineas now. At Riccarton she will get the mile, she likes those big roomy tracks like she proved at Te Rapa.”

Yesterday’s win has cemented Serena Miss with a place in the Group 1 Sothys New Zealand 2000 Guineas, held on 7 November at Riccarton Park.

Having ridden Serena Miss in her previous starts this season Leith Innes was once again aboard, starting from barrier 6 to settle midfield. Driving through the centre of the field at the top of the straight, Serena Miss fought to take the lead in the final strides to win by half-a-length over Amarula (NZ) (Thorn Park), who made the Karaka quinella, with Stradivarius (NZ) (Stravinsky) finishing in third place.

Winning three races from eight starts, the three-year-old filly has earned $173, 375 for owners Graeme & Debbie Rogerson, D Wenham, TI Bawden, DW & RM Lake, RR Ratcliffe, GJ Whiting, PG & EL Karton, Bailey Rogerson Trust and CD Mumby.

Rogerson Bloodstock purchased Serena Miss at the 2014 Karaka Premier Sale for $65,000 from breeders Goodwood Stud.

Sired by last season’s New Zealand leading three-year-old sire Iffraaj, her dam, Gifted Lass (More Than Ready), is a half-sister to four-time stakes-winner Presently (Unbridled’s Song) and Group 3 placed Another Time (Gilded Time).

Serena Miss is a half-sister to four horses, all winners, including Gifted Lad (Zabeel) who placed in this year’s Listed St Leger at Flemington.