The enormously altered Australian sprinting landscape may have gifted Matamata flyer Alabama Lass a
dream shot at Group 1 glory across the Tasman.
The 4-year-old looked fast and forward when leading throughout in a stacked black-type trial at Te Rapa on Saturday, beating the likes of her own stablemate Legarto and Foxbridge Plate favourite Sacred Satono.
It is a long way from winning a trial anywhere to grabbing a Group 1 target like the A$750,000 ($820,000) Moir Stakes, the target which Alabama Lass is being aimed at on September 6 at The Valley.
But the Ken and Bev Kelso-trained speedster has a few factors in her favour as she stares down a victory that could add millions to her value.
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Not only is Alabama Lass seriously fast but she has already won a decent 1100m race at Flemington, so has proved she can travel, settle and perform to black-type level in Victoria.
While Ken Kelso admits the Moir will be a step or two up again, the market has Alabama Lass as the $6 second-favourite and suggests few of the big-name sprinters in Australia are likely to be at The Valley on September 6.
That may sound a little odd, especially with the value placed on Group 1 sprint victories for future stallion prospects, but Australian sprinters are spoiled for sprint targets these days, many at the back end of their campaigns.
The A$20 million Everest at Randwick on October 18 is now clearly the biggest sprint race in this part of the world, especially as it has become a Group 1, and many of the key contenders stay in New South Wales or head there to prepare.
Further softening the early spring field is the fact more and more horses are going into the Everest with just one, or at the most two, runs under their belts.
While the Moir can still fit into a two-prep run strategy, no Moir winner has gone on to even place in the Everest the following month.
Victorian-trained horses who do want to stay home to spin their wheels at Group 1 level before chasing the Everest, or the A$2m Sydney Stakes on that same Randwick card, still have the A$1m Manikato at The Valley on September 26 as a natural lead-up.
And there is also the Champions Sprint during Melbourne Cup week as the spring-ending target, which again seems to be deterring some trainers from aiming their elite at the Moir, even though Imperatriz won both in 2023, bypassing the Everest in between.
Ken Kelso isn’t kidding himself that Alabama Lass faces an easy task in the Moir but on sheer speed and career best-performance (second in a Railway), she profiles at the same level as another Matamata mare, Roch N Horse, who went to Melbourne and won two Group 1 sprints in 2022.
“It is a Group 1 in Aussie and they are never easy,” says Kelso.
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“I have looked at the market but I don’t really know who he will be up against.
“But she is coming up well, we were happy with the trial and she won’t need another one.”
Craig Williams, who rode Alabama Lass in her Listed win down the straight at Flemington in March, is booked to ride her in the Moir.
The Kelsos have had to change riders with Legarto though, as the queen prepares for her comeback the same day as Alabama Lass, but at Ellerslie, in the $400,000 Proisir Plate.
Regular rider Ryan Elliot is unavailable so Vinnie Colgan, who rode Legarto in her late-closing fifth in Saturday’s trial, is confirmed for the Proisir, named after her sire.
“We were really happy with her trial as well but she will need another outing before she races,” Kelso said.
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“That could be a trial or even an exhibition gallop somewhere.”
If Legarto’s contests all three legs of what can still loosely be termed the spring Triple Crown then Colgan will retain the ride.
NZB Kiwi contender Ardalio was very impressive when running second in Saturday’s trial but trainer Stephen Marsh says she will have a light spring, with her first start back being an open 1200m at Te Rapa on September 27.
But Sacred Satono, who finished third without being pushed, will take his place in the Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate on Saturday week, with trial jockey Matt Cartwright to ride.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.