Prowess proves popular

[Wandering Eyes]

Dual Group One winning mare Prowess (NZ) (Proisir) sold for $1,452,500 online on Thursday via Gavelhouse Plus after a protracted bidding war.

The quality daughter of Proisir was trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood for a family syndicate headed by Dean Skipper, and won eight of her 12 starts including five consecutive black-type victories as a three-year-old.

Prowess was a $230,000 yearling purchase at Karaka in 2021 from the draft of breeders Hallmark Stud, and she turned that into more than $3 million when incorporating her $1,452,500 sale price and $1.65 million in prizemoney,

She made a big early impression with a runaway romp by nine lengths at Wanganui in her only juvenile start.

But it was as a three-year-old that Prowess really made her name. After spring placings in the Gr.3 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) and against males in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Prowess embarked on a winning sequence that spanned five feature races between New Year’s Day and the end of March.

She kicked off with a comfortable win in the Gr.2 Auckland Guineas (1600m), then produced a scintillating turn of foot to stun a star-studded field in the $1 million Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m).

After returning to three-year-old fillies’ company with a five-length romp in the Gr.2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m), Prowess took on older horses at weight-for-age and recorded a rare win by a three-year-old filly in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2050m).

James and Wellwood then set their sights on Sydney, and Prowess produced perhaps the most impressive performance of her career with a three-length blitz in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.

An injury-curtailed four-year-old campaign saw Prowess win the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m) in Melbourne and place in the Gr.3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m).

Voted the Champion Middle Distance Horse in New Zealand in 2022/23, Prowess provided a lifetime of memories for her owners and trainers.

The daughter of Rich Hill Stud’s Champion Sire Proisir, Prowess is the fourth foal from the Don Eduardo mare Donna Marie (NZ).

A recently turned five-year-old, Prowess is a half-sister to the Listed-placed Ajay Tee (NZ) (Foxwedge), while a full sister to Prowess was presented at this year’s New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale and was purchased for $1.6 million by Moody Racing, subsequently named Seychelles (NZ).

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