Great to have Ellerslie back ....

[TAB For Ever]

First Group 1 of the season and great to be back at Racing Headquarters , NZ's only International racecourse.

Good horses , good trainers, good jockeys but most of all very exciting racing with good stakes and some fantastic dividends if you had done your homework.

Nothing really to complain about , a new big screen ,sound seemed improved and a great taster leading into spring and summer racing....there was a buzz !

Despite the recent rain the track presented well and held up well once a bit of drizzle arrived. Sun came out later in day even tho temp a bit cool sa forecast.

Highlight would be the scintillating finish of Quintessa in Proisir and Lollapalooza in Gold Traill along with some fantastic finishes with several winning chances in the last 50m.

George warned us on screen that Quintessa at huge overs and Pam Gerard talked up her winner at 70/1.

All races had good sponsors and considering it not one of the top meetings IMO it was particularly good.

Then 10 x mins in car off to the rugby ...win/win.

And following on from a good nights Harness on Friday night !

[Huey]

Quintessa run was amazing the run of the weekend,  not enough credit given to the horse imo. 

Trainer also quietly tipped her out despite her draw also.

[Chief Stipe]

32 minutes ago, Huey said:

Quintessa run was amazing the run of the weekend,  not enough credit given to the horse imo. 

Trainer also quietly tipped her out despite her draw also.

Yes I agree about Quintessa.  Hutchings really didn't have much choice from the draw and the horse did all the work.  I see the resident form analyst @SLB2.0 believes her win is an anomaly and she isn't very consistent. 

Well I wouldn't mind owning her. 

• $1m in the bank. 
• Several Grp wins and placings including a Grp 1. 
• Very consistent as a 3 yr old. 
• 6 wins and 4 placings from 19 starts. 
• Only 2 of her starts haven't been at Group or Listed level. 
• She has a Grp 3 win and a Grp 2 second in OZ. 
  
  Her second prep last season didn't go to plan and I believe she wasn't quite right.  But has come back very well after a decent spell. 

[hesi]

Sectionals for the first 9 home

[hesi]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

Yes I agree about Quintessa.  Hutchings really didn't have much choice from the draw and the horse did all the work.  I see the resident form analyst @SLB2.0 believes her win is an anomaly and she isn't very consistent. 

Well I wouldn't mind owning her. 

• $1m in the bank. 
• Several Grp wins and placings including a Grp 1. 
• Very consistent as a 3 yr old. 
• 6 wins and 4 placings from 19 starts. 
• Only 2 of her starts haven't been at Group or Listed level. 
• She has a Grp 3 win and a Grp 2 second in OZ. 
  
  Her second prep last season didn't go to plan and I believe she wasn't quite right.  But has come back very well after a decent spell. 

Exactly, 'the horse did all the work'  Love it when people say great ride.  Vinnie Colgan on Lollapalooza in the Gold Trail was a great ride

[Chief Stipe]

11 minutes ago, hesi said:

Sectionals for the first 9 home

Those sectionals by Quintessa are not much slower than what Alabama Lass ran home in the Moir.  

47.38 34.94 22.94 11.65  1400m vs

44.79 34.16 22.86 11.54  1000m

[Newmarket]

15 hours ago, Chief Stipe said:

Those sectionals by Quintessa are not much slower than what Alabama Lass ran home in the Moir.  

47.38 34.94 22.94 11.65  1400m vs

44.79 34.16 22.86 11.54  1000m

Good to see horses coming from the back…. as far as Quintessa goes, great run from well back….

A good horse in NZ, previous racing in Aus not good enough against their good horses. Just keep it in NZ, dont flog it in Aus when we know its not up to them…

[Chief Stipe]

54 minutes ago, Newmarket said:

A good horse in NZ, previous racing in Aus not good enough against their good horses. Just keep it in NZ, dont flog it in Aus when we know its not up to them…

It did win a Grp 3 there and ran second in a Grp 2.  So not far off being competitive in the right races.  Went off the boil for a number of reasons but has had a good spell and come back a lot stronger.

Hardly "not up to them...."!

[hesi]

Always surprising what the different horses that go to Aus do.  Look at Roch 'N' Horse, goes over there, not expected to do well, but wins 2 G1's, beating Nature Strip.

Some adapt; some don't

[Newmarket]

Just my view…. would love to own as she is a very good horse, but if going to Aus, race it against 2nd tier horses. 
You see so many NZ & Aus horses trying to compete against the best, but why put horse through that

[Chief Stipe]

1 hour ago, Newmarket said:

You see so many NZ & Aus horses trying to compete against the best, but why put horse through that

As @hesi said some adapt and some don't.  I spoke with a well respected NZ trainer about a particular horse that a friend has a share in about going over there.  She made an interesting comment - she said about the horse "she is the type that will work it out".  Some step up some don't.  

But if you have a horse which performed at the elite age group level in NZ then you have to try as if they do succeed the rewards are huge particularly with a mare.

Quintessa has done alright over there and has increased her value considerably.

[Gammalite]

1 hour ago, Chief Stipe said:

It did win a Grp 3 there and ran second in a Grp 2.  So not far off being competitive in the right races.  Went off the boil for a number of reasons but has had a good spell and come back a lot stronger.

Hardly "not up to them...."!

Was exactly a year ago Chief.

What happened to her was after the great win in the Group 3 Cockram Stakes at Caulfield on August 31 last year.  she went to Flemington for the big Mares race, the LET's ELOPE Group 2 .

But as Luck would have it a very Heavy Hailstorm Hit the course right in the middle of that race. 

So she got smashed in the face and lost all confidence after that. Can't blame her . Even the tough old Standardbreds would have trouble getting over something like that. An Ice Blast right in the face. while travelling at 50kph. Big job to get your horse back after that.

But the Te Akau team have done it !   congrats to them for the Big Win last Saturday 🏆. She's a great mare. 

 

[Chief Stipe]

29 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

Was exactly a year ago Chief.

What happened to her was after the great win in the Group 3 Cockram Stakes at Caulfield on August 31 last year.  she went to Flemington for the big Mares race, the LET's ELOPE Group 2 .

But as Luck would have it a very Heavy Hailstorm Hit the course right in the middle of that race. 

So she got smashed in the face and lost all confidence after that. Can't blame her . Even the tough old Standardbreds would have trouble getting over something like that. An Ice Blast right in the face. while travelling at 50kph. Big job to get your horse back after that.

But the Te Akau team have done it !   congrats to them for the Big Win last Saturday 🏆. She's a great mare. 

 

I'd forgotten about that.  I knew she had some niggles.  Very hard at the elite level in OZ.  Only a handful of fillies or mares really dominate and you only need to be less than 1% off your game to not be in the first half dozen.

Quintessa is by the maiden Cox Plate winner Shamus Award (by Snitzel) out of a High Chaparral mare so you'd expect her to perform better over further than 1400m.