Queen in Waiting

Te Akau is proud of its incomparable record in the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series - having trained four winners of this prestigious title - no other stable has come close to this result.

Our previous winners of this highly sought after title are Shikoba, Princess Coup, Insouciant and King's Rose.  Of course both Princess Coup and King's Rose also won at Group level in Australia as well as New Zealand.

Waiting in the wings tomorrow hopeful of title number five for the stable is Costa Viva - could she be our next "Queen of the 3YO Fillies"?

Costa Viva stormed on to the 3YO scene with a barnstorming win in the Listed Ray Coupland Stakes (the sixth time the stable has won one of the traditional lead ups to the Group 1 Guineas' races).  She then was triumphant over Bounding in the Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas before being narrowly beaten in the Group 2 Cambridge Stud Eight Carat Stakes at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

After pulling up sore from her brave third placing in the Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes she has been spelling and recently returned to the stable ahead of her exciting new preparation.

This season the coveted New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series celebrates its 41st anniversary.  The title is awarded to the most outstanding three-year-old filly of her year in New Zealand.

The fillies compete throughout a series of ten races and are awarded points for wins or placings in each race. Every race carries black type, over distances from 1200 metres to the 2400 metres of the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks which is staged tomorrow.

The title is very keenly contested and carries significant prizes for the owner, trainer and breeder of the ultimate Series winner. The winner of the "New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year" title immediately becomes a highly valuable breeding proposition and earns her connections $50,000 in bonus cheques including $10,000 for her breeder, $10,000 for her trainer and $30,000 for her owner.

So can "Viva" win - it is out of her hooves now - the arithmetic works like this as we understand it - the current favourite for the Group 1 Wellfield NZ Oaks is Miss Selby - if she wins, she becomes Filly of the Year - if she finishes second or further back, the crown will be claimed by Costa Viva!

We obviously wish all contestants well for the Oaks but it would be terrific to see Costa Viva win, esepcially for one of her Australian owners who has been ill with cancer. We will be glued to the screens tomorrow afternoon from Te Rapa where there is a Waikato Racing Club meeting.

The current points are as follows:

2013/2014 Filly of the Year Leaderboard