Luna Rossa
Race Images Palmerston North
On a day that promised much on both sides of the Tasman, the powerful Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman stable made a flying start when they picked up victories at both New Zealand venues early on Saturday.
Class mare Charmont got the ball rolling with an emphatic performance in the first race of the day at Trentham and was quickly followed by impressive three-year-old Okanagan who made it two wins from three starts with a victory in the opening event at Te Rapa. However it was the performance of Written Tycoon filly Luna Rossa that caught the eye as she powered home off a wide run to break her maiden status in the two-year-old event at Trentham.
Luna Rossa had established her credentials as favourite for the event after finishing an unlucky fifth in the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes at her last start however her supporters would have been feeling a little uneasy when the filly was still several lengths of the flying pacemaker, Royal Fashion, halfway down the Trentham home straight.
Rider Mathew Cameron didn't panic though and with a couple of huge bounds Luna Rossa levelled up and drove to the front in the shadows of the post to score a narrow but impressive victory.
"The worry was always how far back she was going to get but she actually got into a very good spot early on," noted co-trainer Andrew Forsman after the race.
"The biggest problem was the second horse kicked on well but she knuckled down and got the job done."
Pressed on the immediate plans for the filly, Forsman was cautiously optimistic about a return to stakes company in the near future.
"She just keeps impressing us with everything she does so we will see how she pulls up after this before we look at her next start," he said.
"There's a stakes race in the South Island we had earmarked a little way out so if she could get some black type her pedigree will make her a very valuable filly."
Sadly for the stable they couldn't continue their early momentum with second favourite Mime weakening to finish fourth in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Oaks after making most of the pace while Turn Me Loose and Mongolian Khan were also out of the money in their Group One assignments in Sydney. – NZ Racing Desk
Class mare Charmont got the ball rolling with an emphatic performance in the first race of the day at Trentham and was quickly followed by impressive three-year-old Okanagan who made it two wins from three starts with a victory in the opening event at Te Rapa. However it was the performance of Written Tycoon filly Luna Rossa that caught the eye as she powered home off a wide run to break her maiden status in the two-year-old event at Trentham.
Luna Rossa had established her credentials as favourite for the event after finishing an unlucky fifth in the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes at her last start however her supporters would have been feeling a little uneasy when the filly was still several lengths of the flying pacemaker, Royal Fashion, halfway down the Trentham home straight.
Rider Mathew Cameron didn't panic though and with a couple of huge bounds Luna Rossa levelled up and drove to the front in the shadows of the post to score a narrow but impressive victory.
"The worry was always how far back she was going to get but she actually got into a very good spot early on," noted co-trainer Andrew Forsman after the race.
"The biggest problem was the second horse kicked on well but she knuckled down and got the job done."
Pressed on the immediate plans for the filly, Forsman was cautiously optimistic about a return to stakes company in the near future.
"She just keeps impressing us with everything she does so we will see how she pulls up after this before we look at her next start," he said.
"There's a stakes race in the South Island we had earmarked a little way out so if she could get some black type her pedigree will make her a very valuable filly."
Sadly for the stable they couldn't continue their early momentum with second favourite Mime weakening to finish fourth in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Oaks after making most of the pace while Turn Me Loose and Mongolian Khan were also out of the money in their Group One assignments in Sydney. – NZ Racing Desk