Trainer Lance Noble hopes to double down on Champions Day

Liguria (left) was a brilliant winner at Ellerslie last month and returns to try for a repeat on Saturday week. Photo / Kenton Wright

Having claimed a first Group 1 victory for Cambridge Stud owners Sir Brendan and Lady Jo Lindsay with Jaarffi at Ellerslie last Saturday, Lance Noble is hoping to add to that tally back at headquarters on Champions Day.

Noble was familiar with Group 1 success from the early stages of his training career, initially in partnership with his mentor Jim Gibbs, then with fellow Gibbs protégé Roger James and most notably from his own stable with triple Group 1-winning racemare Viadana in 2013-14.

In the decade since he was appointed private trainer for the Lindsays at their well-appointed Karaka property, further elite success had eluded Noble, albeit by narrow margins on a number of occasions.

Jaarffi was one of those Group 1 placegetters, having gone down by a short head to Provence in last year’s Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at the inaugural Champions Day and finishing second again behind Kingswood in the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.

“Since the Zabeel Classic the plan was to target two more Group 1s, either go to Te Rapa for the Herbie Dyke Stakes or wait for the Ōtaki-Māori Classic and then to the Bonecrusher Stakes on Champions Day as her grand finale,” Noble said.

“In the end we decided on the two Ellerslie races as she does go well there, and it was great for Sir Brendan, Lady Jo and everyone to see her get up and win on Saturday.

“She’s tough and not the easiest to deal with, but that tough streak stands to her on raceday, as we saw on Saturday after she’d had a pretty tough trip.

“She’s come through it well and all going to plan, she’ll be there next week for what might be her last start; after all she’s six years old and as a Group 1 winner she’ll be another valuable addition to the Cambridge Stud broodmare band.”

At the other end of the spectrum, Noble is also looking forward to the Group 1 debut of talented two-year-old Liguria in the Sistema Stakes (1200m).

The daughter of champion stallion Snitzel and the Noble-trained Vernazza, winner of the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) and runner-up in the Sistema Stakes at her next start, displayed her share of family talent when winning the Group 3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 31.

That confirmed a tilt at the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes, but a heavy track denied Liguria the chance to emulate her dam in the biggest race on Noble’s former home track.

“I was looking forward to heading back down to Matamata with what I considered a strong prospect for another Breeders’ Stakes, but it wasn’t to be,” Noble said.

“The track was already heavy when we decided to leave her in, but later in the morning as we were heading out the gate, I got word that the track had a further downgrade.

“I said to myself ‘this is crazy’, so I rang the stewards and pulled her out. It was the right decision, she went to the trials at Avondale last week and won really well. She’s all set, so here’s hoping for another big day.”

– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk