Eight Carat Draws Big Field Of Classy Fillies

23 December 2002

The girls will be out in force at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, with a big line-up of talented fillies set to start in the Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m).

With a stake of $100,000 and the opportunity to make great inroads on the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year points table, the Eight Carat Classic has drawn a field of 22 smart fillies. The winning filly will be well within striking distance of the top of the points table for the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series with 8 points up for grabs to the winner of the race.

Many of the fillies have impressive recent form with the likes of the John Wheeler trained All In Tune (Grosvenor x Bonnie's Delight) who has won her last two starts, and the Graeme Rogerson & Stephen Autridge trained Curvy Girl (Desert Sun x Seductive) who has a 100% success rate with two starts for two wins.

Two other fillies who have impressed after only two starts are Graceland (Woodman x Ferragamo), trained by Alan Jones & Brett McDonald, and the regally bred Our Echezeaux (Zabeel x Richebourg) trained by Leon Casey of Cambridge. Both fillies won first time out and were placed in their second starts.

Mike Moroney & Andrew Scott have two runners in the Eight Carat with Penny Gem (Pentire x Gemscay) & St Martha (Bigstone x Racy Belle), who has done nothing but improve since her first start, capturing her first win last time out.

The Eight Carat Classic marks the sixth leg of the 2002-03 New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series where the current points stand as follows:

The Jewel 12
Volksini 10.5
Chestpeak 7
Danceinthesun 6
Gypsy Babe 6
Molly Dot Com 6
Bailey's On Ice 3
Country Class 3
Original Sin 2
Charmaine 1.5
Midnight Call 1.5
Savuka 1.5
Florida 1

The points available for Saturday's race are
1st � 8 points
2nd � 4 points
3rd � 2 points

For more information on the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series please contact Taryn Bax at New Zealand Bloodstock on (09) 298 0055 email: [email protected] , or view the New Zealand Bloodstock website, where the series is updated after each race.