NZB Southern Filly Series Gets Underway at Riccarton
15 September 2016
New Zealand Bloodstock’s Southern Filly of the Year Series begins this Saturday with the running of the $50,000 Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton Racecourse.
This is the 16th year that the New Zealand Bloodstock sponsored Series will take place, with the first of the four races commencing this weekend and concluding in April with the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes.
All four legs in the Series are run at Listed level and provide the opportunity for fillies to gain valuable black-type, adding residual value to their pedigrees.
Saturday’s field features the Listed winner Zigwig (NZ) (Zacinto), Group 2 placegetter What Choux Want (NZ) (Jimmy Choux), the unbeaten Starvoia (Starcraft) and the highly rated La Diosa (NZ) (So You Think) and O’Naturelle (NZ) (O’Reilly).
Following a four-way tie at the top of the Series leaderboard last year, changes have been made to maximise the chances of the Series determining an outright winner. The potential still remains for tied winners but that prospect is greatly reduced under the changed format.
The points structure will now be 7 points for a win, 4 points for a second and 2 points for a third, replacing the previous format of 7, 3 and 1.
The final leg of the Series, the New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes, will now, should two or more fillies have equal points following the running of that race, act as a ‘decider’. The following condition now applies to the Series: In the event of two or more fillies having equal points following the running of the fourth and final leg of the New Zealand Bloodstock Southern Filly of the Year Series the filly with the best finishing position in the New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes as determined by the judge and/or any Judicial process will be determined the winner of the Series.
The Canterbury Belle Stakes will be run as race 7 on Saturday at 4.09pm. To view the full field, click here.
For more information on NZB’s Southern Filly of the Year Series, click here.
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Starvoia | 9 | Speedy Starcraft filly Starvoia is unbeaten in two starts, including a convincing 1000-metre victory over many of these rivals on September 3. | John & Karen Parsons | |
| 2 | What Choux Want | 7 | What Choux Want (NZ) (Jimmy Choux) was a multiple stakes winner last season in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes and Listed Welcome Stakes. She was a late-finishing sixth behind Starvoia on September 3. | Andrew Carston | Marco Chui |
| 3 | Zigwig | 2 | Zacinto filly Zigwig (NZ) has won or placed in all four of her starts to date, including a dominant win in the Listed Champagne Stakes in May and a good second behind Starvoia on September 3. | Nick Wigley | Terry Moseley |
| 4 | Darkseid | 1 | Darkseid (Domesday) finished last on debut, but took a huge step forward in her only other start to win by a length and three-quarters at Ashburton. | Terri Rae | Shankar Muniandy |
| 5 | La Diosa | 5 | La Diosa (NZ) is a well-bred daughter of So You Think and the Group 2 winner Star Affair, who is a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner The Jewel (NZ) (O'Reilly). First and fourth in two starts last season, she produced a flying finish to run third to Starvoia. | Mandy & Matt Brown | Racha Cuneen |
| 6 | O'Naturelle | 8 | By O'Reilly out of the high-class mare Naturo (NZ) (Postponed), O'Naturelle is rated highly by Te Akau Racing and was an easy winner of her only start. | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | Michael McNab |
| 7 | Wize Act | 10 | A previous winner over this course and distance, Wize Act (NZ) (Zacinto) was fourth behind Starvoia two weeks ago. | Terri Rae | Samantha Wynne |
| 8 | Shirley Maude | 6 | Fully Fledged filly Shirley Maude (NZ) has had two starts to date, finishing fifth on debut before running third to Zigwig in the Listed Champagne Stakes. | Lisa Vaughan | Kevin Kalychurun |
| 9 | Play For Time | 3 | Play For Time, a daughter of red-hot stallion Foxwedge, has had only one start to date for a second placing behind race rival Darkseid. | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | Alysha Collett |
| 10 | Rio Tennille | 4 | Lightly raced filly Rio Tennille (NZ) (Captain Rio) has had two starts for an eighth and a last-start fifth behind Starvoia. | Bruce Tapper |