Emerging filly Costae has taken the rarest of avenues to the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton, where she will bid to deliver a dream result for a new ownership group.
The daughter of Ribchester successfully progressed through a poly-track path before an impressive last-start victory at Ellerslie to book her place in Saturday’s Barneswood Farm-sponsored Classic.
Trained by Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray, Costae placed in her first two runs on the Cambridge Synthetic track before she won on the Awapuni all-weather.
“She was purchased by OTI Racing earlier this week after she came on (agent) Phill Cataldo’s radar after her win at Palmerston North and then at Ellerslie,” Ritchie said.
“She will run in OTI’s colours, and it will come down to her performance whether she stays for the Karaka Millions (Listed, 1600m) or transfers to an Australian trainer.
“The original owners, including myself, have kept small shares in her.”
Costae’s road to Riccarton via a predominantly synthetic build-up was largely determined by the weather.
“It’s unusual form for a Group One, apart from her last start, and to be honest I think both Guineas fields may have suffered through wet tracks through the spring,” Ritchie said.
“We weren’t comfortable running her on heavy tracks and we’ve got a poly track in our back yard, so it was easier to run her there.
“The Pearl Series bonus was why she went to Manawatu, and she was quite dominant in that race.
“We didn’t think she was just a poly horse, the way the bonuses set up it was financially more favourable to run her in those races.”
Costae subsequently continued her winning trot on the turf with her last start defeat of a handy age group line-up.
“We were a little bit cocky when we ran her at Ellerslie and felt she would run a much better race than her form lines would suggest and so it happened,” Ritchie said.
“She has come on in leaps and bounds, she’s been interesting and puts herself in the race and she’s drawn a favourable gate (one).
“You’d assume she will get the run of the race with a bit of natural gate speed and if it plays like everybody’s map, she’ll follow the favourite (Alabama Lass) and will get every chance.
“The only problem with barrier one might be a bit of wear and tear on the rail after two days of racing, but in saying that the track has raced terrific.”
Horse racing news
