New Zealand mares aim for glory at Flemington and Rosehill racing

New Zealand-owned mare Joliestar is among the favourites for the A$10m Golden Eagle at Rosehill in Sydney.

Racing’s spring of the amazing mares looks set to continue today but this time there are a few Kiwis hoping to get involved.

Mares have dominated the races that really matter so far this racing season, with Bella Nipotina winning the A$20 million ($22m) Everest two weeks ago and Via Sistina stunning in the Cox Plate last Saturday.

Even domestically two of the three Group 1s run so far this season have been won by mares in Grail Seeker (Tarzino) and Snazzytavi (Livamol), with Skew Wiff all but making it a clean sweep going down in the last few strides of the Arrowfield Plate.

The domination of mares in major Australian races has become more prominent in recent years as elite colts are retired to stud so early we rarely get to see them race at five or six years of age.

While that isn’t as much of a factor here because it is harder to make NZ-trained horses into commercial stallions, we still sell a lot of very good young male gallopers to Australia and Hong Kong, with trainers in the latter almost exclusively buying male gallopers.

Girl power looks likely to be the focus of New Zealand interest today at all the major meetings.

At Flemington, perhaps our best mare Orchestral has her spring Grand Final in the A$1 million Empire Rose, named after another great NZ mare, and she looks ready to win if there is enough tempo to let the swoopers into the race.

She has taken longer than hoped to come to hand this spring but co-trainer Roger James says she is spot on now, so as long as the race is not dawdle and dash she could roar back into transtasman prominence.

A New Zealand girl facing an even tougher task is filly Bellatrix Star in the A$2m Coolmore Stud Stakes, a 1200m sprint down the Flemington straight worth millions to a colt’s future stud worth if they win it.

In that regard, Bellatrix Star would be a party pooper for some of Australia’s richest owners if she is able to down the superstar colts like Growing Empire and Traffic Warden. While she has gone to a new level in each of her last three starts, today’s Group 1 is world-class sprinting stuff.

Also world-class, as you would expect for the A$10m stake, is the Golden Eagle at Rosehill in Sydney, with New Zealand-owned mare Joliestar among the favourites.

She was running on too late in the Everest last start, suggesting the step up to 1500m today suits, but she will need to settle handier from barrier 11 in the massive field.

She also faces the unknown challenges of Japanese mare Ascoli Piceno and the unbeaten French gelding Lazzat in what is a confusing but fascinating clash of racing jurisdictions.

Closer to home, one of New Zealand’s best mares, La Crique, keeps the girl power theme going when she returns to racing in the open 1300m at Tauranga. However, she has to carry 60.5kg, even after apprentice Ngakau Hailey claims 3kg.

“It is a big weight and she hasn’t been to the trials this campaign we so aren’t overly confident,” says co-trainer Simon Alexander.

“She is really well in herself and working great but she can’t be at her peak.

“And with Te Rapa being called off on Monday this field has come up stronger, and bigger, than we expected.”

Favourite for that sprint is Navigator, looking to give superstar jockey Michael McNab a winning return to race riding.

McNab has been sidelined for most of the last five months after a Te Rapa racefall just when he was looking likely to threepeat in the jockey’s premiership.

He is still undergoing physiotherapy for his back injury but is thrilled to be back riding and looking forward to New Zealand Cup week, which starts next Saturday.

“I’m excited to be back and I think Navigator is my best chance,” says McNab.

Racing today

** Tauranga, first race 12.12pm

** Trentham, first race 12.26pm

** Rosehill, Golden Eagle Day, first race 2.10pm (NZ time)

** Flemington, Derby Day, first race 2.20pm (NZ time)

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.