After 21 months in the wilderness, the 7-year-old Raise The Flag (GB) mare Etah James was given the chance to showcase her superior staying powers in Saturday’s $300,000 Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m).
The Matt Cumani-trained mare was given a positive ride by apprentice Fred Kersley who stood high in the irons over the last 50 metres to celebrate his first stakes success.
After tracking the freewheeling Runaway to the turn, Etah James hit the line strongly to defeat the favourite Secret Blaze (Sizzling) by one and a half lengths with Midterm (GB) (Galileo) three-quarter of a length back in third.
Part-owned and bred by her original trainer in New Zealand, Mark Lupton, Etah James advances her record to 7 wins and 2 seconds from 26 starts with earnings of $455,971.
Lupton and his wife, Cath, bred and race Etah James with friends Gary Howes and Terry Reid.
She had been winless in 15 starts since capturing the Group III Lord Reims Stakes at Morphettville in March last year.
The sire of Etah James, Raise The Flag (GB), sure can sire a stayer.
The White Robe Lodge resident is a half-brother to Dansili by Sadler’s Wells out of the Broodmare of the Year Hasili, the dam of five Group 1 winners including Group 1 Breeder’s Cup winning sisters Banks Hill (Danehill) and Intercontinental (Danehill).
Raise The Flag (GB) was in the spotlight recently as the sire of the first two home in the $300,000 Jericho Cup as noted by the Cumani representative Andrew Bobbin.
“She might even find herself in a Jericho,” Bobbin said.
“I know it’s a long way off, but she is a New Zealand-bred and even though she would be an 8yo mare, it would be some sort of performance, but she is by Raise a Flag who went one-two in the race last week so that would be right up her alley if we can keep her going that long.”
Bobbin said that Fred Kersley went out with a plan to make it a real staying test.
“He (Kersley) said Runaway was not going to get anything cheap and I’m going to make a real race of it," Bobbin revealed.
“If you look back at the Sandown Cup, at the corner it looked like she was gone but she came again to be beaten only by 1.4 (lengths).
“That’s our Bagot horse there. If you look at her now she is still a bit pretty around the girth and she might need another run before then.”
Etah James is the best of four winners from as many to race out of the Danasinga mare Etah who is a sister to the dual Group III winner Tickle.
Etah has a 2yo colt by Alamosa and was covered by Raise The Flag (GB) again last year.
