Horse racing: Imperatriz stuns Aussie punters

Imperatriz cruises to victory in the Manikato Stakes. Photo / Bruno Cannatelli

Kiwi sprint queen Imperatriz stunned Australian punters in the A$2 million Manikato Stakes in Melbourne yesterday and that was before she even won.

The queens of New Zealand racing took over The Valley on Cox Plate day, with Imperatriz smashing her rivals in the Group 1 sprint just two hours after Cambridge mare Prowess won the A$300,000 Crystal Mile at Group 2 level.

That could start one of the richest winning fortnights for New Zealand-trained horses, as Imperatriz and Prowess have rich assignments at Flemington in two weeks, Legarto races in the A$10m Golden Eagle in Sydney next week, and in between, Ladies Man could get his chance in the Melbourne Cup on November 7.

While Imperatriz’s victory surprised nobody because she started $1.20 after the scratching at the barrier of Buenos Noches, the way she won was unexpected. Imperatriz has won two other major sprints at The Valley this spring by sitting back and slingshotting her rivals, but yesterday, she jumped well from barrier 4 and jockey Opie Bosson pushed her to the lead.

It is a position she has rarely been in, the pacemaking role in a sprint, but after she got away with an easy first half to the race, the only question was how much she’d win by? The answer was three-and-a-quarter lengths and it could have been five had Bosson felt like being brutal.

The victory was so emphatic Bosson got to enjoy the adoration showered upon his mare.

He declared her the best horse he has ridden, while trainer Mark Walker suggested Imperatriz is keeping Bosson riding after years of weight battles.

The Manikato win goes a long way to financially justifying the decision of Walker and Te Akau boss David Ellis to skip the A$20m Everest in Sydney two weeks ago with Imperatriz. In this form, she may have even won that mega money slot race, but if she wins the A$3m Champions Sprint at Flemington on November 11, the financials will be more or less the same.

But with three Group 1 victories and without the risk of travel and upsetting Imperatriz, who clearly loves The Valley and Victoria, the right decision was made.

Imperatriz must now at least be in the conversation about New Zealand’s best 1000-1200m sprinters.

For years, that conversation has often brought up the name Mr Tiz, while greats such as Sunline (who won the Manikato in 2000) and Our Maizcay won major 1200m races but rarely raced at the true sprint distances as older horses.

More recently, Roch ‘N’ Horse, when trained in Australia, and Levante have done freakish things sprinting here and in Australia but Imperatriz has turned into a machine with much more to come.

While Prowess’ win wasn’t at the highest level, she undoubtedly is top class, as she overcame a interrupted spring campaign to win the Group 2 Crystal Mile while still on the up.

She was aided by a perfect Mark Zahra ride to trail and push out without losing momentum but also by her huge stride and plenty of heart and like Imperatriz, Prowess may still have her best raceday performances ahead of her.

●The New Zealand domination of The Valley was completed when ex-pat jockey James McDonald won the A$5m Cox Plate on Romantic Warrior.

McDonald produced the perfect ride to get the nose of the Hong Kong-trained galloper down on the line to deny former NZ horse Mr Brightside, who looked the winner with 50m to run.

Romantic Warrior gave McDonald back-to-back Cox Plates after he rode Anamoe to win the great weight-for-age race last year.