New Zealand syndicator Go Racing looks like they have struck gold once again from the same source following Alacritous’ impressive maiden victory in the Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series (1200m) at Matamata on Wednesday.
The two-year-old daughter of Dundeel is a half-sister to last season’s New Zealand Champion Two-Year-Old Velocious, and following her win in last year’s Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) for trainer Stephen Marsh, Go Racing’s Albert Bosma went to Karaka to purchase her sibling for $300,000.
Subsequently named Alacritous, the filly was entrusted to the care of Marsh, who has been impressed with her talent from the outset.
While Alacritous finished seventh on debut at Te Rapa last month, Marsh still had every faith in his filly, and the Heavy9 track conditions were his only worry heading into Thursday.
“She drew wide that day (debut). Michael (McNab) rode her and he blamed himself. He was very keen to stick with her, he thought she was a filly with massive upside,” Marsh said. “He’s suspended, so Gryllsy (Craig Grylls) jumped on. She is a very nice filly and is obviously a half to our very good filly at home (Velocious).
“The track was a bit of a concern, I heard one of the jockeys come back and say it was more like an 11.”
Jumping from barrier four, Alacritous settled in behind the early speed for jockey Craig Grylls, who got busy on his charge from the 400m, asking her to improve four-wide. Alacritous had all but one before her at the top of the straight, but Grylls found the best part of the track where she showed a good turn of foot to run down Cream Tart to win by a neck.
“It looked like Cream Tart came through them, kicked away and looked the logical winner, but Gryllsy got us out to the right part (of the track) and she really attacked the line,” Marsh said. “That’s not really her sort of track either, but she was great.”
Grylls was also impressed with Alacritous’ confidence-building performance.
“Stephen was fairly confident when I got on her today, he said the first run wasn’t that bad and he quite liked her,” he said. “She probably wasn’t handling it that well, throughout the run I was only just touching the bridle, but once she got into clear air and I got her to the middle of the track, she had that horse to chase down and she was pretty tough.”
Alacritous will now head for a spell in preparation for her three-year-old season, and Marsh is excited about her prospects in her Classic year.
“We thought we would come here today and have a little spell afterwards. She has got it all ahead of her,” Marsh said.
“It is nice to tick off that win and you are guaranteed to get into those nice three-year-old races. I certainly think she has got it all ahead of her. You even see her in the yard, she is still a bit raw but is very talented.”
It could be a standout week for Alacritous’ family, with half-sister Velocious lining up at Ellerslie on Saturday in the Evergreen Bloodstock 1100, while half-brother Penvose Lad will be vying for his third consecutive victory for trainer Anna Furlong in Saturday’s Stout Roofing 1200 at Trentham. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
