In a thrilling display of prowess, the seasoned mare Our Alley Cat, who had previously secured five Group-level placings, clinched her maiden stakes victory in impressive fashion at the Group 3 Spring Sprint (1400m) held at Hastings on Saturday.
The seven-year-old daughter of Atlante, with a track record of six wins in 29 starts, had previously played bridesmaid to some notable contenders.
She was a close second to Levante and Imperatriz in two editions of the Group 2 Westbury Classic (1400m), runner-up to Showoroses in the Group 2 Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), and also took third place behind Belclare and Skew Wiff in the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) and the Group 3 King’s Plate (1400m), with Babylon Berlin and Packing Rockstar.
However, Saturday’s race marked a triumphant turn of events for Our Alley Cat.
Despite an awkward draw in gate nine, the mare received expert guidance from the in-form jockey Opie Bosson, who rode four of the first six winners on the Hastings card.
As they entered the home straight, Our Alley Cat surged alongside her rival after stalking Not Guilty’s hot pace. At the 200m mark, she took the lead and pulled away convincingly, leaving her competitors in the dust with a winning margin of two and three-quarter lengths.
Not Guilty valiantly secured second place, narrowly edging out Mercurial, El Vencedor, and the unfortunate beaten favourite, Romancing The Moon. The 1400m feature race was completed in a swift 1:21.95.
For Our Alley Cat’s trainer and part-owner, Vicki Prendergast, this black-type breakthrough was an immensely gratifying achievement.
Her stable’s star had now amassed $307,935 in stakes, and Prendergast was clearly happy post-race.
“She’s such a special horse to us. We nearly retired her after last season, but I thought, ‘Come on – we’ve really got to win a Listed race or something with her.’
“She really deserved to win one. She’s been such a good horse. She’s run second behind Levante and Imperatriz in big races, and she really deserved to win one.
“Finally, she’s done it. The pace was really on today, and it probably wasn’t ideal with the draw that we had, but we had the jockey, didn’t we?”
Our Alley Cat’s victory also marked a milestone for the former Mapperley Stud stallion, Atlante, as she became his fifth individual stakes winner. Her dam, Cat Woman, a Scaredee Cat mare, had five victories to her name and secured a place in the Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m).
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