Classy sprinting mare Mrs Chrissie (NZ) (Per Incanto) kicked off a new campaign on a winning note with a powerful come-from-behind performance in Saturday’s A$150,000 Ballarat Volkswagen Tonks Plate (1100m) at Ballarat.
The Benchmark 100 handicap was the first start since July for Mrs Chrissie, whose previous campaign produced wins at Caulfield and Sandown as well as a third in the Gr.3 Sir John Monash Stakes (1100m) and a last-start fourth in the Gr.3 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m).
Mrs Chrissie was sent out as a $2.90 favourite on Saturday and delivered in style in the hands of Craig Williams.
The six-year-old deviated from her usual on-speed style and settled back near the tail of the field for most of the race, then was angled out to the centre of the track in the home straight and began to unwind.
Mrs Chrissie produced a turn of foot that none of her seven rivals could match, bursting to the lead and drawing clear to score by two and a half lengths.
“The race didn’t work out as we thought it might have pre-race,” Williams said. “But I had the right horse, well-weighted, well-prepared first-up today, and it was pretty easy for me. I just kept her out of trouble, simple and smooth, and she was too good for them.
“The plan was actually to be right on the back of the speed, but there was much speed for my horse today. She was happy further back, so I just trusted her. She was pretty dominant. She probably showed another string to her bow, that she’s not just an on-speed horse.
“She was well placed in this race. If you take Recommendation (Shalaa) out of those Group races in the winter, she ran really well at weight-for-age. Recommendation is in Hong Kong tomorrow, so it just shows you that he’s a pretty high-end sprinter. For her to come back into this handicap race and have that luxury of dropping down in weight, it was a really nice race for her today.”
The Ciaron Maher-trained Mrs Chrissie has now had 20 starts for six wins, seven placings and A$408,125 in stakes.
“She was really good,” assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said. “I didn’t expect her to be in the position she was, rear of the field, but it just goes to show that as a mare matures, they can be ridden differently.
“She doesn’t always get the beginning right, and she didn’t really have that zest early today, but she was pretty dominant late. She was well in at the weights, especially with the scratchings of the horses up front, and sets herself up for a good programme.
“Black type is the key for her now. She’s placed at that level, but we need to get that win, and I’d say for a mare, you’re either the Christmas Stakes (Listed, 1100m) or possibly the Black Pearl (Listed, 1200m), but the Christmas Stakes being 1100m is ideal.”
Mrs Chrissie was bred by Chris Doak and Rosie Ealden and was exported to Australia as an unraced two-year-old. She is out of the O’Reilly mare Turf Fire (NZ), who herself won nine races and placed in the Gr.3 Stewards’ Stakes (1200m).
Turf Fire is the dam of three winners from seven foals to race, headed by Mrs Chrissie and fellow black-type placegetter Don Carlo (NZ). Mrs Chrissie’s four-year-old full-sister Grassburn (NZ) has placed twice in six starts to date for the Maher stable, while Turf Fire’s final foal was an unnamed Super Seth filly born in 2021.
