No black-type but a valuable prize for the Henry Dwyer-trained Holler filly Hollerlujah who made a winning debut in Saturday’s $250,000 Apiam Animal Health VOBIS Gold Rush (1000m) at Bendigo.
Riden by Mitch Aiken, Hollerlujah came with a barnstorming finish to defeat the Overshare filly Over Shady by a half head with the Manhattan Rain gelding New York Hurricane a short neck back in third.
“We’ve always liked her and she’s just done everything right the whole way through,” Dwyer said.
“She’s never been a real standout, but she’s just so tradesmanlike.
“It was always going to be hard from the wide barrier, so Mitch just rode her conservatively. We just wanted to see her hit the line and give the impression we could go to a 1200-metre race (The Showdown) in three weeks, and we certainly think we can do that now.”
“Noor Elaine Farm bred her. They’re the same breeders that bred Asfoora, who we had a bit of success with a few months ago, so we bought another horse off them. So we’re two from two now with two very nice fillies.
“We didn’t pay a lot for her. She might have been 40 or 50,000 (dollars) at the Premier Sale, but she’s just been ultra-professional all the way through.
“We gave her a nice trial probably 10 days ago, and she just pulled up a touch jarry in the shins. So we shipped her down to St Leonards. She had a week at the beach, and to be honest, there’s a fair bit of improvement in her because she’s done nothing since that trial. She’s just all racehorse.
“This was a starting point. We really didn’t have much of a guide on her because she only had that one soft trial and had never been off the bridle.
“There’s a fair bit of upside, so you’d have to go to a race like that now.”
Henry Dwyer Racing purchased the strapping daughter of Holler for $46,000 from the Noor Elaine Farm draft at the 2021 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale.
She is a half-sister to three accomplished performers, including the stakes-placed Baligardi (Purrealist).
Noor Elaine Farm purchased her dam Littlemiss Sandown for just $5,000 at the 2012 Inglis Great Southern Bloodstock Sale.
Noor Elaine Farm consigned a Frosted (USA) colt to the 2022 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, where he failed to reach his $40,000 reserve.
Littlemiss Sandown has a weanling filly by Ilovethiscity and was not covered last spring.
