Many pre-race pundits had labelled Saturday’s Ellerslie’s feature, the Gr.3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1400m) as a two-horse contest between Lollapalooza and Tajana, the two hottest three-year-old fillies of spring racing to date.
While that ignored the legitimate challenges of several well credentialled rivals, those early predictions played out exactly as expected with the Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray-prepared Tajana holding out race favourite Lollapalooza by the barest of margins in a thrilling finish to the black-type event.
Both fillies are noted back runners and were expected to be giving their rivals a decent start entering the Ellerslie home straight and so it proved as riders Vinnie Colgan aboard Lollapalooza and George Rooke on Tajana settled second and third last respectively during the first half of the race.
Rooke elected to send Tajana towards the outer approaching the home bend while Colgan picked a path between runners as the pair set out after Little Black Dress who had taken over with 200m to run.
At the 100m Tajana and Lollapalooza collared Little Black Dress with Tajana thrusting her head down at just the right time to deny the favourite by a nose at the winning post and claim her second stakes victory in succession after taking out the Gr.3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) a month ago.
Ritchie had been adamant throughout the week that they would not change Tajana’s racing pattern for the contest despite knowing she would be giving most of her rivals a head start in the closing stages as her longer term targets are over more ground, including the Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton.
“She is not a filly we expected to be firing over 1400m, so it really does look good going ahead with her,” Ritchie said.
“Isn’t it great to have a couple of top-class fillies going head to head like that. It is good for racing so lets bring it on some more.
“She will now take her place in the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr.2, 1400m) back here and I really think Riccarton will suit her, but it is a hard race to win that 1000 Guineas.”
Rooke admitted he had some pre-race jitters as his mount began to give him some difficulty in the starting barriers, whilst it wasn’t all plain sailing during the running either.
“She went in first, she sat down leaning against the side (of the gate), so I got one of the lads to pull her tail and stand her up square,” he said.
“She was still slow away and never really travelled during the race while I was in a little bit of trouble finding room around the home bend.
“She is hard work but she has ability. If I knew her better I would have waited and not panicked but over a mile she will be better and when I got her clear she felt very good.”
TAB Bookmakers now have Lollapalooza and Tajana as equal $3.50 Fixed Odds favourites for the New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) on 8 November.
Bred and raced by The Oaks Stud, Tajana is by Darci Brahma out of the five-race-winning Sakhee’s Secret mare Sleek Secret (NZ). From a six-start career, she has now won on three occasions while also boasting two placings including finishing third in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) and over $231,000 in stakes. - LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
