Horse racing: Velocious set to extend season

Velocious storms to glory in Saturday's Sistema Stakes. Photo / Race Images

Flying filly Velocious’ season will be extended even though she has nothing left to prove as her connections eye New Zealand’s richest race next season.

The Karaka Million winner added the $450,000 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday, sitting outside the leader before racing clear in the group one for Sam Spratt.

The win will almost certainly guarantee Velocious the Juvenile of the Year title but trainer Stephen Marsh says he has one more target for the season.

She provided Marsh with the first leg of a group one double, as El Vencedor then led throughout to down Legarto in the $450,000 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes to provide the Cambridge trainer with one of the greatest days of his career.

Marsh says Velocious has one more major target but for more than the obvious reason.

“We are very keen to go to the Sires’ Produce at Trentham [moved from Awapuni] on April 6,” says Marsh. “It’s the first of the bonus races leading into next season’s NZB Kiwi, which we presume will be her big aim.

“If she happened to win the Sires’ Produce, which is a great group one race in its own right, then she’d be eligible for a $600,000 bonus should she win the NZB Kiwi next year. So at this stage, we’ll definitely head that way.”

The NZB Kiwi is the $3.5 million new slot race set for Ellerslie on March 8 next season, and as a 1500m event for three-year-olds, it’s incredibly tempting for Velocious.

While slot auctions for the NZB Kiwi were held only last week, if she was to win the Sires’ Produce, it could even spur one of the slot holders to try and do an early deal with the Velocious connections.

El Vencedor’s win came at his first 2000m attempt, something he is bred to do, but Marsh has slowly worked his way towards it because he used to be a horse who can over-race.

He was beautifully rated by jockey Joe Doyle, and while hot favourite Legarto had the perfect trail and looked certain to grab El Vencedor at the top of the straight, the winner didn’t come back to her.

Imperatriz weighed down

Superstar sprinting mare Imperatriz was brave but beaten by the weight in Saturday’s Au$1.5 million Newmarket Handicap at Flemington.

Asked to carry 58kg, Imperatriz had to settle for second to three-year-old Cylinder, who carried 6.5kg less, with the Kiwi mare’s low barrier draw also not aiding her chances.

Victorian stewards reported after the race Imperatriz had shown signs of EIPH, which is internal bleeding in the airway common among horses.

While her connections are not expecting it to affect her chances of making the William Reid Stakes on March 23, they will need a vet certificate to confirm it is not an ongoing issue.