Prior to Saturday’s Saturday’s Listed Just Now Stakes at Eagle Farm, the five-year-old Manhattan Rain mare Alison Of Tuffy had contested two stakes races, finishing last of 13 in the Group III James Carr Stakes and beating just two of the 18 runners home in the PJ Bell takes, both at Randwick.
Sent off a $101 chance under Ronnie Stewart, the Peter Robl-trained mare left punters in stunned silence when clung to a desperate short-half-head margin over the helmet mare Maozi with the heavily backed Eurozone mare Krone a short-neck back in third.
A homebred for Richard Tuffy, Alison Of Tuffy advances her record to five wins, four seconds and four thirds from 28 starts with earnings of $243,075.
The daughter of Manhattan Rain is the best of three winners from as many to race out of the Zabeel mare Flibbertigibbet.
Bred by Wood Nook Farm, Flibbertigibbet did little on the track to contribute to the legend of Zabeel.
She faced 38 opponents in her three-start career and beat just two of them home.
Flibbertigibbet did, however, descend from one of Wood Nook’s best families. Her dam Bella Stella is a Danehill three-quarter sister to the ATC Gimcrack Stakes winner Brilliant Bisc out of the grand racemare Stella Cadente whose five wins included the Group MVRC Australia Stakes.
Both Flibbertigibbet and her dam Bella Stella have enjoyed a productive last few years after a series of disappointments.
The 20yo Bella Stella has a yearling filly by Overshare and a filly foal by Ilovethiscity after six years without a foal.
Without a foal in 2016 and 2017, Flibbertigibbet has a yearling colt by Astern and was covered late last year by So You Think.
Alison of Tuffy becomes the 15th stakes-winner for Blue Gum farm’s Manhattan Rain.
The son of Encosta De Lago has just one entry for the Gold Coast. You will have to wait until near the end of the final day of the sale for her; the Tartan Fields consigned daughter of the Rahy mare Constant Charmer (USA).
