Racing: Unflappable Sellwood has reason for emotion

Anabandana scoots away from her opposition in the Diamond Stakes. Photo / Dean Purcell

Don Sellwood is a lot of things - a master trainer, intense, quiet and thoughtful to mention a few.

Demonstrative is not one of them.

A four-legged excitement machine changed that on Saturday.

"She's a superstar, she's a superstar," Sellwood yelled from his vantage point just outside the Ellerslie pressroom as Anabandana crossed the finish of the $200,000 Diamond Stakes to provide final evidence to those who still doubted she is New Zealand's most talented juvenile.

You don't have to train Anabandana to agree with Don Sellwood that, yes, she is something special.

Only the very best of group one horses have the remarkable sprint she produced yet again to easily sweep her past the opposition in the home straight.

Top-end 2-year-old racing is not about speed, it's about the ability to sprint off that natural speed at the end of races.

Watch the very best of the Australian juveniles and they only rarely burn off the opposition with sheer speed and cling to victory. The finish is the strongest part of their race.

Ditto for Anabandana, who would clearly be competitive among the big money in Australia.

Owner Chris Grace was no less excited than his trainer watching the race alongside.

Who can blame him?

He picked the filly up for A$24,000, has landed $230,000 in stakes and that's a fraction of what she is now worth.

But even in the depth of such excitement Grace earned most points for his humility.

"You know the great thing about this filly," he said, "the spring she's put in Don's stride."

Grace, a Hamilton supermarket owner, even used his trainer to know what was going on during the race.

"I've got binoculars in the car, but I always forget to take them with me when I get out. I didn't know what was going on during the race but when Don started jumping up and yelling I did, too. I figured he knew what was happening."

Sellwood's careful professionalism never leaves him. "Excuse me," he said quietly to the press interviewing him as Opie Bosson and Anabandana stepped back into the birdcage. "I just want to see how she's pulled up."

Moment later watching the pair you would have to say the filly pulled up slightly better than her trainer.

"Beautiful, just beautiful, look at her," enthused Sellwood.

Anabandana should be unbeaten. She was desperately unlucky in her first two races and in three stakes races since, won the first by a nose and the second two by widening margins.

Fort Lincoln finished gamely into second and Chateauneuf Dupape was similarly strong in third.

Antonio Bandino turned right and ran into the rail when in front halfway down the straight, altering the line of Shuka, who was finishing on.