Mighty seven-year-old mare Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) was back doing what she does best on Saturday, when running her rivals ragged to land the Gr.2 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield.
The Ciaron Maher-trained triple Group One winner signed off on her spring campaign in disappointing fashion when finishing last in the Gr.1 Champions Mile (1600m) after suffering a bleed.
After a subsequent enforced layoff, the Trelawney Stud-bred mare returned a winner first-up for the first-time in her career.
Under new rider Craig Newitt, Pride Of Jenni adopted familiar front-running tactics that saw her stretch her rivals mid-race, with only Zardozi (Kingman) making some late in-roads but never threatening when just under three lengths away in second.
“The team have done a great job, as have Tony and Lynn (Ottobre, owners). She had a couple of months down there (at Ottobre’s Cape Schanck Stud) spelling and then a little bit of time ticking over,” Maher said.
“She’s only had a short prep, but we thought would change tack a little bit. She hadn’t won first-up, and normally she goes in the toughest races, usually seven furlongs. We thought we’d stretch it out and she’d get it a little bit easier and fortunately it’s worked out really well.
“She’s getting a little bit softer each season when she comes back which also enables you to kick her off over 1800m.
“Because she puts so much into every run, she’s remarkable how she just keeps doing it. The two months enforced holiday was probably a blessing in disguise.
“We had to re-think her prep a little bit and all her data was as on par or better than before.”
Maher said there were plenty of options for the mare with a tilt at the Gr.1 Australian Cup (2000m) possible, while Sydney options include the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) or the Gr.1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m).
Winning rider Craig Newitt was full of praise for the mare and her owners for racing her on, despite some commentary about retirement.
“I think the biggest thing today was the small field. It wasn’t really going to generate a lot of tempo, so from barrier three, I just held my line the first couple of furlongs until I got up the hill because I knew if I got the first sort of eight or nine hundred metres right, her ability to take care of the rest, whether she fatigued or not late, she was always still going to take a power of beating,” Newitt said.
“Tony actually said to me before I went out, try not to use the stick on her. But I had to give her one top of the straight just to switch her back on because she turned for home and she just completely relaxed underneath me. I thought she might have just been starting to fatigue a little bit, but I put one round her tail and she dropped a gear and disappeared.”
A daughter of Pride Of Dubai, Pride Of Jenni was bred by Trelawney Stud and is out of the O’Reilly mare Sancerre (NZ), who was prepared by Cambridge trainer Tony Pike to win on four occasions for the Stud.
The star mare stems from a family fashioned over generations at the famed Kiwi nursery, which has been in the Taylor family’s ownership since 1993, having been established by Seton Otway in the 1930s.
Group Two winner Real Success (Sucess Express), the taproot of star Trelawney Stud graduates Vouvray (NZ) (Zabeel), Loire (NZ) (Redoute’s Choice), A Touch Of Ruby (NZ) (Pins) and Pride Of Jenni and many others around them was one of the first families the Taylors bought into upon taking ownership of Trelawney.
Pride Of Jenni was sold at the Sydney Classic Sale for A$100,000 through the Segenhoe Stud draft, where she was purchased by Tony and Lynn Ottobre’s Cape Schanck Stud.
Sancerre has a two-year-old filly by Per Incanto which has been retained by the Taylors named Pouilly Fume (NZ). The mare foaled a filly by Hello Youmzain last spring, which unfortunately died, but she is back in foal to the young Cambridge Stud stallion who has made a promising start with his eldest just two.
Pride Of Jenni has now won nine of her 36 career starts with a further 12 placings, and has amassed A$10,336,290 in prizemoney