Amarelinha (NZ) Out to Extend NZB Filly of the Year Series Lead

Standout filly Amarelinha (NZ) (Savabeel) tops the 2020-21 New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series table, and a trip to Ellerslie for Sunday’s $70,000 Group Three McKee Family Sunline Vase (2100m) gives her the chance to add to her advantage. 

Amarelinha was a $300,000 purchase by Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis at Karaka 2019, and she is trained by Jamie Richards for the Te Akau Hopskip’n’jump Syndicate.

The Savabeel filly has racked up a Series-leading 16 points on the Filly of the Year Series table through brilliant victories in the Group Two Eight Carat Classic (1600m) and Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m).

In between those two outstanding performances, Amarelinha was a desperately close second in a thrilling clash with Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie. Aegon is now undefeated in five starts, having carried his winning streak across the Tasman with a dominant win in the Group Two Hobartville Stakes (1400m) on his Australian debut.

Amarelinha is the clear headline act in Sunday’s Sunline Vase, which is worth 6 points to the winner, 3 points for second and 1.5 points for third.

Another victory on Sunday would lift Amarelinha to 22 points, with Richards then aiming her towards the grand finale – the Group One Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham on March 20.

But the field for Sunday’s Sunline Vase features more than one high-quality filly.

Needle and Thread (Makfi) has earned 10 Filly of the Year points with an impressive campaign in her own right, winning the Group Two Royal Stakes (2000m) and placing in the David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic. A win on Sunday, with Amarelinha outside the placings, would move her into an equal Series lead.

Slave to Love (NZ) (Savabeel) produced a strong finish for second behind Amarelinha in the David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic last start, collecting her first 4 points in the Filly of the Year Series.

Ruakaka-trained Spine Tingle (NZ) (Super Easy) has yet to contest a Filly of the Year Series race, but she was a brilliant last-start stakes winner in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m) at New Plymouth.

The McKee Family Sunline Vase will be run as Race 8 at on Sunday, with a start time of 4:22pm. If the race meeting is unable to be held at Ellerslie due to the Covid-19 Alert Level in Auckland, the meeting will instead be staged at Hastings.

 

#	Horse	Draw	Comments	Trainer	Jockey	Purchaser
1	Amarelinha	9	Amarelinha (NZ) (Savabeel) was a $300,000 purchase by Te Akau's David Ellis from Waikato Stud's Book 1 draft at Karaka 2019. She has made a big impression with victories in three of her five starts to date, including powerful performances in the Group Two Eight Carat Classic (1600m) and Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies' Classic (2000m), which have given her the lead in the NZB Filly of the Year Series with 16 points. Her only defeats were a second placing on debut behind subsequent Group One performer Wild Moose (NZ) (Nadeem), and a close second to Aegon (NZ) (Sacred Falls) in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m). The undefeated Aegon later won the Group Two Hobartville Stakes (1400m) in Sydney.	Jamie Richards	Opie Bosson	Karaka 2019, Book 1, $300,000, purchased by David Ellis.
2	Needle and Thread	11	A full-sister to the Group One performer and young sire Savile Row (NZ) (Makfi), the talented Needle and Thread (NZ) (Makfi) has won two of her six starts so far. She scored a dominant victory in the Group Two Royal Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on New Year's Day, winning by four and a half lengths. In her only start since then, she was third behind Amarelinha in the Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies' Classic (2000m). She has earned 10 NZB Filly of the Year Series points.	Stephen Autridge & Kris Shailer	Craig Grylls
3	Slave to Love	2	Savabeel filly Slave to Love (NZ) won a maiden race at Ellerslie in December, then scored by almost three lengths in a 1600-metre Rating 65 at Pukekohe. Her two starts in the NZB Filly of the Year Series have produced a sixth in the Group Two Eight Carat Classic (1600m) and a strong-finishing second in the Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies' Classic (2000m). The latter performance earned her 4 points.	Peter & Dawn Williams	Ashvin Goindasamy
4	Spine Tingle	15	Spine Tingle (NZ) (Super Easy) is raced by her breeders, the Hawkins family's Llanhennock Trust, who offered her in Book 2 of Karaka 2019 but she didn't reach her $30,000 reserve. After finishing seventh on debut, Spine Tingle has scored excellent wins in both subsequent starts including a four-length romp in last month's Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m) at New Plymouth.	Chris Gibbs	Lisa Allpress	Karaka 2019, Book 2, Passed In
5	Dragon Queen	3	Bought by the New Zealand Chinese Jockey Club and Paul Moroney Bloodstock for $50,000 in Book 3 of Karaka 2019, Dragon Queen (NZ) (Sweynesse) was a maiden winner at Pukekohe in December and has been close-up in a number of major races. She was fifth in the $1m Karaka Million 2YO (1200m), seventh in the Group Two Matamata Breeders' Stakes (1200m), seventh in the Group Three Soliloquy Stakes (1400m), fourth in the Group Two Auckland Guineas (1600m) and a last-start sixth in the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m).	Michael Moroney & Pam Gerard	Taiki Yanagida	Karaka 2019, Book 3, $50,000, purchased by the New Zealand Chinese Jockey Club and Paul Moroney Bloodstock
6	Beaune	7	Beaune (Kermadec) was a $52,000 purchase from Hallmark Stud in Book 1 of Karaka 2019. She has scored one win from eight starts so far, and she hinted at a bright future over longer distances with a big finish for fourth in the Group Two Royal Stakes (2000m) on New Year's Day.	Emma-Lee & David Browne	Wiremu Pinn	Karaka 2019, Book 1, $52,000, purchased by Boon
7	Waimoku Falls	5	Syndicators Go Racing secured Waimoku Falls (NZ) (Sacred Falls) for $140,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2019. She unfortunately lost her rider during the $1m Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m), but she has otherwise been in good form throughout her three-year-old campaign. She stormed home for a maiden win at Tauranga, has placed at Ruakaka and has run two creditable fourths against good company at Ellerslie.	Stephen McKee	Johnathan Parkes	Karaka 2019, Book 1, $140,000, purchased by Go Racing
8	Ali Arc	10	Ali Arc (NZ) (Bullbars) was a $42,500 purchase by Richardson Racing Stables from Highview's draft in Book 2 of Karaka 2019. She has had five starts so far, winning the most recent of those at Matamata on February 10.	Graham Richardson & Rogan Norvall	Lynsey Satherley	Karaka 2019, Book 2, $42,500, purchased by Richardson Racing stables
9	Aquaoir	13	Purchased for $100,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2019 by trainer Cody Cole, Aquaoir (NZ) (Ocean Park) is a half-sister to the Group One winners A Touch of Ruby (NZ) (Pins) and Loire (NZ) (Redoute's Choice). Aquaoir made a strong start to her career with a win and two thirds in her first three starts, then never saw daylight when unplaced at Ellerslie in her most recent appearance.	Cody Cole	Samantha Collett	Karaka 2019, Book 1, $100,000, purchased by Cody Cole
10	Carolina Reaper	18	The second runner in this field for in-form trainers Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall, Vespa filly Carolina Reaper (NZ) was bought for just $12,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2019. She was a three-length maiden winner at Te Rapa in January, then stepped up to stakes level with a solid fifth in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m).	Graham Richardson & Rogan Norvall	Vinnie Colgan	Karaka 2019, Book 2, $12,000, purchased by Richardson Racing Stables
11	Samina Bibi	1	Reliable Man filly Samina Bibi (NZ) was a $170,000 purchase at the 2019 Ready to Run Sale by co-trainer Shaune Ritchie. She scored impressively on debut at Te Rapa in late November, then finished seventh in the Group Three Eulogy Stakes (1600m), Group Three Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) and Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies' Classic (2000m).	Shaune Ritchie & Colm Murray	Sam Weatherley	2019 Ready to Run Sale, $170,000, purchased by Shaune Ritchie
12	Yolo	6	Yolo (NZ) (Zed) has shown plenty of promise with a win and three placings from seven starts so far. She also finished a close fourth in the Group Three Wellington Stakes (1600m) and was a last-start ninth in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m).	Kevin Myers	Ryan Elliot
13	Beautifulnightmare	8	One of two Sunline Vase runners for Ruakaka trainer Chris Gibbs, Beautifulnightmare (NZ) (Contributer) has made a good impression with a win and a placing among her last four starts. The other two were both in NZB Filly of the Year Series races, making up late ground for eighth in both the Group Two Royal Stakes (2000m) and the Group Two David & Karyn Fillies' Classic (2000m).	Chris Gibbs	Kozzi Asano
14	Bella Button	17	Proisir filly Bella Button (NZ) was a $50,000 purchase by Daniel and Elias Nakhle from Book 2 of Karaka 2019. She won impressively over 1500 metres at Ellerslie on January 10, then stepped up to stakes level and ran 10th in the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) and 11th in the Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies' Classic (2000m).	Peter & Dawn Williams	Danielle Johnson	Karaka 2019, Book2, $50,000, purchased by Daniel and Elias Nakhle
15	Sainte Elisabeth	12	After some eye-catching late finishes earlier in the season, Sainte Elisabeth (NZ) (Contributer) broke through for a deserved maiden win with another strong late burst over 1600 metres at Pukekohe late last month.	Moira & Kieran Murdoch	Leith Innes
16	Lovettorleaveit	16	Lovettorleaveit (NZ) (Roc de Cambes) won a maiden race at Matamata in October, and her three subsequent appearances include an 11th in the Listed Oaks Prelude (1800m).	Clayton Chipperfield
17	Stopalltheclocks	14	From just three starts, Stopalltheclocks (Real Impact) has produced strong performances to finish fifth, second and a last-start third.	Simon & Katrina Alexander
18	Lovingyourwork	4	Foxwedge filly Lovingyourwork (NZ) was an $11,000 purchase from the 2019 Karaka May Sale. She has picked up two placings from five starts to date, including a last-start third at Te Aroha.	Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman		2019 Karaka May Sale, $11,000, purchased by Huia Bloodstock