Quality mare Luberon put a classy field of sprinters to the sword at Pukekohe on Saturday when she dashed away in the closing stages to score a handsome victory in the Group 3 Counties Bowl (1100m).
The Lance Noble-trained daughter of Cambridge Stud stallion Embellish was shooting for a winning treble to open her spring campaign after taking out a rating75 1200m contest at Ellerslie back in September, followed by the Group 3 Sweynesse Stakes (1200m) at Rotorua last month.
Drawn ideally in barrier one, rider Joe Doyle bounced her away nicely to take the trail behind pacemaker Shoes, where she dropped the bit and relaxed beautifully in the early stages before starting to rev up approaching the home bend.
Doyle quickly had her off heels and into the clear early in the run home and once balanced up he pushed the turbo button which saw the mare explode clear before easing to the line two lengths to the good of Sacred Satono, Waitak and Crocetti who were in a line for the minor placings.
2024 Group 3 Counties Bowl Replay – Luberon
Noble was delighted with way his charge had sprinted so quickly in the run home although he was well aware she had a decent pull in the weights of between five to seven kilograms on her main rivals.
“That 7kgs in the weights made a difference and when she accelerated she put a couple of lengths on them,” Noble said.
“I think we learnt a lot last year and their three-year-old year can be hard on the fillies. We’ve made some plans to keep her fresh, keep her happy and they are working which is very exciting.”
Noble was also relieved to see Luberon on her best behaviour after costing herself a near certain victory just over a year ago at the venue when she ducked outwards at the 300m in the Group 2 Soliloquy Stakes (1600m), striking the outside rail and nearly falling before being pulled out of the race.
“A year ago, we were here and we all know what happened that day,” he said.
“To come back and win is very very satisfying.
“Obviously the sprint series is pretty tempting while the Telegraph (Group 1, 1200m) fits in nicely as I think she may be slightly better left-handed.
“We’ll just take it one day at a time but that’s the plan.”
The Sprint series Noble was referring to is a new innovative ten-race series initiated by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and Entain New Zealand & Australia this season that includes races in Australia and New Zealand that culminate on Champions Day at Ellerslie on 8 March.
Points will be allocated to the first four placegetters of each race in the series, with a bonus pool of $500,000 being shared amongst the owners of the three highest point scoring horses at the conclusion of each series.
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