Listed Soliloquy Quinella for Te Akau

In a race of her own, Spellbinder (3 f O'Reilly - Scenic Sprint, by Scenic) won the Allied Workforce Soliloquy Stakes (Listed, 1400m) by six and a half lengths on Sept. 29 at Ellerslie.

Adding to the thrill, stable-mate Ruthless Lady (Keeper) finished second as both fillies gained valuable stakes' form.

Impressive winning off the front when debuting at her previous start on Sept. 9 at Taupo, Spellbinder again signalled her intentions with good pace from the outside gate to sit abreast of the leader for jockey Matt Cameron.

She travelled best turning for home and left her rivals at the 350 metres to win easily, in 1:27.89 for the 1400 metres, on footing upgraded a race earlier from Heavy10 to Slow9.

“Huge,” said Cameron, “she blew me away. I knew she was good, but I didn't know she was that good. She was doing handstands the last bit as I eased her up near the line, just coasting. She won hands down, doing half pace and did it very naturally, not running on fear but rather just getting faster.

“She relaxed nicely, coasted along, was very professional about it all and kicked away like a really good horse,” added Cameron.

Being one of only four winners in the field of eleven, Te Akau trainer Jason Bridgman suggested keeping the win in perspective but TAB bookmakers took a different view when shortening the filly from an opening quote of $31 to $12 for the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) and $26 to $4 - equal favourite with Bounding - for the 1000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m).

“I know she may not have beaten an awful lot today, but the manner was very, very good,” said Bridgman.

“It was a sensational run from her today; her work was very good leading up to the race. We were just trying to keep our feet on the ground in a listed race at just her second start, but she certainly looks quite exciting from here.

“She is a filly that leaves everything on the track. She's not going to win by a head; she opened up and has probably given herself a harder run than we really wanted.

“If she pulls up well, eats up well and keeps ticking the boxes going forward we could possibly look at Te Rapa at the end of the month and then into the Guineas,” said Bridgman.

The race in mind at Te Rapa: Annie Sarten Memorial (Gr. 3, 1400m), is set down for Oct. 28, and the 1000 Guineas Nov. 16 at Riccarton.

Bred by Melbourne trainer Danny O'Brien, Spellbinder was purchased for $60,000 by Te Akau principal David Ellis at the 2012 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Sale, from the draft of Mapperley Stud, and owned by the Te Akau Spellbinder Syndicate, managed by David Ellis.

Stablemate and second placed Ruthless Lady, ridden by Noel Harris, settled eighth on the inner and after standing the leader six lengths passing the 600 metres she found room in centre track at the 200 metres and rounded off solidly.

“We were delighted with that as we weren't convinced she'd handle the ground,” said Bridgman. “For her connections [Roger & Ruth Blunt] we were just trying to snare some stakes' form and it was great ride by Noel (Harris).

“We are very fortunate that David Ellis puts his hand up at the Karaka Sales each year and buys these exciting fillies and colts, and for us as a team to see it come to fruition on the track is what it's all about,” said Bridgman.

Ruthless Lady was also bought by David Ellis at the Karaka Premier Sale for $210,000 from the draft of Cambridge Stud.  By Keeper, her dam Lady Dehere won the Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes at two as well as (the then equivalent of today's Karaka Million) the $500,000 Mercedes Classique at Te Rapa.

From his hospital bed, recovering after open heart surgery, David Ellis was thrilled with the stable quinella today -

“What a result, a brilliant training feat by Jason and a real credit to our entire Matamata team.  The stable is flying and with Jason's strike rate of 3.2 - that tells the story.  From my perspective, I couldn't have a better tonic!”

Picture credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

Back