Sunline Vase Gets 55th NZB Filly of the Year Series Underway
3 September 2026
As well as launching New Zealand’s 2026-27 Group One racing season with the running of the Proisir Plate (1400m), Saturday’s eagerly anticipated 10-race card at Ellerslie also marks the return of one of this country’s most prestigious and long-running series.
Now in its 55th year, the NZB Filly of the Year Series begins this weekend in the $150,000 Group Three Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase (1200m).
NZB is strongly committed to encouraging and rewarding thoroughbred excellence through supporting fillies and mares’ racing in New Zealand. With its proud half-century of history, the NZB Filly of the Year Series has become an important target for the leading three-year-old fillies of each New Zealand season. The overall winner immediately becomes a highly valuable breeding proposition and also earns her connections $50,000 in bonus cheques – $10,000 for her breeder, $10,000 for her trainer and $30,000 for her owner.
The NZB Filly of the Year Series has repeatedly unveiled superstars of the racetrack and the breeding barn throughout the last five and a half decades, and the latest addition to that list is last season’s winner Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park), who went on to add the Group One Australian Oaks (2400m) in Sydney to her domestic successes in the Group One New Zealand Oaks (2400m), Group Two Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2000m) and Group Two David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2100m).
Now a new crop of three-year-old fillies have their chance to shine through a series that spans 11 races between September and February, over distances ranging from 1200 all the way up to 2400 metres.
The first leg is the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase, which is worth 6 points for the winner, 3 for second and 1.5 for third.
It has drawn a highly talented field of 10 fillies, including last-start Group Three Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) winner She’s No Saint (Prague), last season’s $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) winner Dream Roca (NZ) (El Roca), stakes-winning filly Miss Janet (Home Affairs) and the stakes-placed Latoya (NZ) (Proisir), Silhouette (NZ) (Armory) and Bella Bonita (NZ) (Noverre).
The Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase will be run as Race 7 at Ellerslie on Saturday, with a scheduled start time of 3.24pm.
Sunline Vase Field:
| # | HORSE | DRAW | COMMENTS | SALE | PURCHASER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | She's No Saint | 1 | Bought for $55,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2025 by Ruakaka trainer Michelle Bradley, She's No Saint (Prague) has earned $132,475 from a seven-race career that has produced three wins and two placings. She finished sixth in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) last season, and she has found career-best form in recent times with wins in all of her last three starts. That winning treble culminated in the Group Three Northland Breeders' Stakes (1200m) on her home track on August 15, which she won by three and three-quarter lengths. The winner of last year's Northland Breeders' Stakes was Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma), who won the Sunline Vase in her next start. | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | ML Bradley, $55,000 |
| 2 | Dream Roca | 2 | Ellerslie was the scene of a career-best performance so far for Dream Roca (NZ) (El Roca), who ventured across the Tasman from her Queensland base and triumphed in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) in January. She later returned to Brisbane, where her four subsequent starts produced placings in the Group Two Spirit Of Boom Classic (1200m) and Listed Dalrello Stakes (1000m). Dream Roca was a $75,000 purchase by her trainer Liam Birchley from Book 2 of Karaka 2025. She has had seven starts for two wins, three placings and $678,720 in stakes. | Karaka 2025, Book 2 | Bloodstock Solutions, $75,000 |
| 3 | Miss Janet | 6 | Stephen Marsh holds a powerful hand in the Group One Proisir Plate (1400m) on Saturday with three runners including unbeaten favourite Well Written (Written Tycoon), but the Cambridge trainer could have a part to play in the Sunline Vase too. His runner is Miss Janet (Home Affairs), who has had three starts so far for a win and a placing. The win came in the Listed Star Way Stakes (1200m) over this course and distance on April 18. | ||
| 4 | Latoya | 8 | Trained by Ken and the late Bev Kelso, Latoya (NZ) (Proisir) is a full-sister to the Matamata couple's greatest-ever performer - the recently retired five-time Group One winner Legarto (NZ) (Proisir), who was NZB Filly of the Year in the 2022-23 season. Those are big shoes for Latoya to fill, but she scored a smart win on debut on July 11, and her only other start produced a third placing without all favours in the Listed Chittick Family Fillies' Classic (1100m) at Taupo. | ||
| 5 | Silhouette | 3 | Silhouette (NZ) (Armory) was a $120,000 purchase from Book 1 of Karaka 2025. The filly by young Mapperley Stud stallion Armory was a four-length winner on debut last October, then ran fifth in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1100m) in her only other two-year-old start. She resumed with an eye-catching third in the Group Three Northland Breeders' Stakes (1200m). | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | CW Cole Racing, $120,000 |
| 6 | Stromlinien | 9 | Bought for $450,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2025, Stromlinien (NZ) (Almanzor) had three starts as a two-year-old for a debut win at Ellerslie, a 10th from a wide gate in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and a fourth in the Listed Star Way Stakes (1200m). She has had a change of stable for her three-year-old campaign and is now trained by Ken and the late Bev Kelso. | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | Forsman Racing/Andrew Williams Bloodstock, $450,000 |
| 7 | Dashing Dixie | 7 | The first of two runners in the Sunline Vase field for Matamata trainers Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, Dashing Dixie (NZ) (Alabama Express) was a $340,000 purchase from Book 1 of Karaka 2025. She won on debut at Te Rapa last December, then ran ninth in the $1m TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m). Her first raceday appearance since then came in last month's Listed Chittick Family Fillies' Classic (1100m), in which she ran a close fifth. | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | Wexford Stables, $340,000 |
| 8 | Pounce | 4 | The O'Sullivan and Scott-trained Pounce (NZ) (Almanzor) cost $110,000 in Book 1 of Karaka 2025. She was a winner as an autumn two-year-old, then resumed with a sixth in the Listed Chittick Family Fillies' Classic (1100m) at Taupo. | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | Wexford Stables, $110,000 |
| 9 | Summer Schemer | 5 | Cambridge trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray won last year's Sunline Vase with Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma), and their hopes of defending that title rest with Summer Schemer (Dirty Work). A debut winner against subsequent Group One winner Seize The Day (I Am Invincible), Summer Schemer has since then finished second at Counties, eighth in the Group One Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) and fourth in the Group Three Northland Breeders' Stakes (1200m). | Karaka 2025, Book 1 | Psd, Res $100,000 |
| 10 | Bella Bonita | 10 | Bought for just $15,000 from Book 2 of Karaka 2025, Bella Bonita (NZ) (Noverre) has already exceeded that figure with her prize-money earnings and finished third in the Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m) in May. | Karaka 2025, Book 2 | DR Laing, $15,000 |