By Heather Anderson
La Diosa (NZ) justified her 6-4 favoritism and ran out a 1 1/2-length winner of the NZ$300,000 G1 Gavelhouse.com 44th New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton Park Saturday. The dark bay gave her sire, globetrotting champion So You Think (NZ), his first Group 1 winner and it was also the first for regular pilot Racha Cuneen and trainers Matt and Mandy Brown.
“She had to be good to win and she is very good, she just likes to get back and relax,” Matt Brown told www.nzracing.co.nz. “Racha hasn't done anything wrong on her and he rode her brilliantly.”
The Dead 4 track had been a concern for the connections, but La Diosa handled the going with aplomb, dropping back to race at the tail of the field one off the fence as Its Time for Magic (NZ) (Per Incanto) held an uncontested lead, with Astara (NZ) (Dalghar {Fr}) about a length behind. Forced three deep on the far turn, Cuneen shifted La Diosa out to the middle of the course for clear running room. Gobbling up ground, she burst past all comers about 50 metres out and held firm to the line with Bella Gioia (NZ) a clear cut second. It was three-quarters of a length back to Sweepstake (NZ), who was only a short head in front of Midnight Gossip (NZ) (Showcasing {GB}) in fourth.
“She's an amazing filly and I'm very grateful to be given the opportunity by Mandy and Matt Brown and the connections,” said Cuneen, who was dumped by the Classic heroine after the winning post. “The plan was always to get back and run over the top of them. We hit the front early and she got a bit lost, but all credit to the filly–she's a great horse.”
A winner of a Riccarton Park 1000-metre race at first asking this April, La Diosa ran fourth there later that month before being spelled for 15 weeks. She resumed with a third in another Riccarton feature Sept. 3 under Racha Cuneen and then stepped up with a win in the Listed Canterbury Belle S. going 1200 metres Sept. 17. An additional 200 metres held no difficulties last time and the Brown trainee added the Listed Barneswood Farm S. over G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas third and second Heroic Valour (NZ) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Savile Row (NZ) (Makfi {GB}) at Ashburton Oct. 15. Sweepstake was fourth that day.
Pedigree Notes…
La Diosa is by Coolmore's So You Think, the two-time G1 Cox Plate scorer and dual Irish highweight. The five-time Group 1 winner in England and Ireland had already celebrated his first group winner in the filly Gold Rush (NZ), who scored earlier this year in the G2 Matamata Breeders' S. La Diosa is the ninth foal out of the 2003 G2 Travis S. heroine Star Affair (NZ), who also added a Group 3 placing across the Tasman in Australia for good measure during her tenure at the track and is a half-sister to New Zealand champion and 1000 Guineas heroin The Jewel (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}). La Diosa is a half-sister to Australian GSW Solid Billing (Aus) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), who ran third in the G1 Sydney Cup in 2011 and was also group placed in New Zealand, as well as MSW and G1 Australian Oaks third Thy (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) and the South African Classic-placed MG1SP Galileo's Galaxy (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}). Star Affair has a yearling filly by the late O'Reilly (NZ).Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
Saturday, Riccarton Park, New Zealand
NEW ZEALAND ONE THOUSAND GUINEAS-G1, NZ$300,000 (US$213,309/£169,313/€196,507), CJC, 11-12, 3yo, Open Set Weight, 1600mT, 1:37.85, Dead.
1–@&LA DIOSA, 56.5, f, 3, by So You Think
1st Dam: Star Affair (GSW-NZ, GSP-Aus), by Star Way (GB)
2nd Dam : The Grin, by Grosvenor
3rd Dam: The Dimple, by Noble Bijou (USA)
O-Calder Bloodstock Ltd, G L Currie, Bruce Honeybone &
Deborah Martin, M L Gibson, P B C Sipos & T W Archer Trust;
B-T W Archer Trust, Auckland, NZ; T-A & M Brown; J-R Cuneen;
NZ$178,125. Lifetime Record: 6-4-0-1, NZ$253,000. *1/2 to
Solid Billing (Aus) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), GSP-NZ, GSW &
G1SP-Aus, $277,497; Thy (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}), MSW & G1SP-
Aus, $295,984; and Galileo's Galaxy (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}),
MG1SP-SAf, $122,508. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Bella Gioia, 56.5, f, 3, Swiss Ace (AUS) –Joiya (AUS) , by
Stravinsky (USA). (NZ$60,000 Ylg 2015 NZB National Yearling
Sale). O-Idl Racing Ltd, G W & Mrs M W Simon; B-Marriott
Thoroughbreds Ltd, Waikato, NZ; T-S F Ritchie; J-D S Johnson;
NZ$57,000.
3–Sweepstake, 56.5, f, 3, Per Incanto (USA) –Lottery, by
Carnegie (IRE). (NZ$60,000 2YO 2015 NZB Ready to Run Sale).
O-M P Breslin, C R Grace Qsm, A L Morris, Pee Gee Bloodstock
& A J Porter; B-C R Grace, Central, NZ; T-M P Breslin; J-R J
Myers; NZ$28,500.
Margins: 1.5 len, 2.3 len, 2.4 len. Odds: 2.50, 6.60, 26.00.
Also Ran: Midnight Gossip, Astara, Its Time for Magic, Mystery Show, Zigwig, Glass Slipper, Royal Fashion (AUS) , Incantesimo.
Click for the Racing Post chart or NZ Racing Video.
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