Kiwi-bred mare Lekvarte (NZ) (Reliable Man) collected the third Group Three win of her career with another barnstorming come-from-behind performance in Saturday’s A$250,000 James Squire Angst Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
Previously the winner of the Gr.3 Belle of the Turf Stakes (1600m) and Gr.3 Aspiration Quality (1600m), the Joe Pride-trained Lekvarte has now earned A$923,330 from a 31-start career that has produced nine wins and five placings.
The six-year-old resumed with a strong-finishing fourth in the Gr.2 Golden Pendant (1400m) on September 28, and the extra 200m of Saturday’s Angst Stakes was right up her alley.
Lekvarte had drawn the extreme outside gate in a field of 14, and jockey Josh Parr took her back to settle at the tail of the field.
Parr picked a path through the pack in the straight and Lekvarte took care of the rest, producing an explosive turn of foot and storming home to edge out Quickster by a neck.
“She’s electric, isn’t she, when she can get clear air like that,” Parr said. “She really let rip after being held up slightly, so it was beautiful today.
“I sort of planned to have three, maybe four behind me in the run, but it didn't work out. But she was there for me at the finish.
“I was really keen, with how she went first-up, in the progression she made, just seeing her here in the yard. But she's had a really strong blow there today, so she's still on the improve.”
Pride is now keen to give Lekvarte a shot at the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on November 2.
“She's a lovely mare and always has been,” he said. “It has taken her a little while to get to stakes grade, but as an older mare, the way she's racing now, you'd love to think there's another season in her.
“She's a really easy horse to deal with, quite aggressive but she's a dream to train and she loves this Randwick mile.
“There’s a fair few things to consider now – probably a trip to Melbourne. It’s only a couple of weeks away from the Group One for the mares, and I’d probably like to give her a go at that, to be fair. Whether or not she’s quite at that level, I’m not sure, but it’s a good chance she’ll be there. I think Flemington, being similar in a way to Randwick, would suit her.
“But I’m very happy with that win today. She has gone terrific.”
By Westbury Stud stallion Reliable Man, Lekvarte is out of the black-type Encosta de Lago mare Plumm, who was runner-up in the Gr.3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) for Grahame Begg.
The talented grey was sold as a yearling through the Westbury Stud Book 1 draft at Karaka in 2020, knocked down to BK Racing & Breeding in conjunction with Andrew Williams Bloodstock for $210,000. – NZ Racing Desk.
