Group 1 Opportunity Knocks for Bonny Lass

Matamata trainer Graham Richardson wasn’t planning to run Bonny Lass in the Gr1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) until he saw the nominations – or rather, the lack of them, reports NZ Racing Desk. Remarkably for a Group One race, just four horses were originally nominated for the contest on Tuesday - the Jamie Richards-trained rising star stablemates On The Bubbles and Sword of State, Group 3 winner Magneto, and the maiden filly Seven Twenty. Richardson was planning to bypass the Sistema Stakes with Bonny Lass, winner of the Gr2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) on February 27, and instead concentrate on the Gr1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) on April 3. But with Group 1 black-type on the line for Bonny Lass, Richardson decided to have a go at the Ellerslie feature. “I was a little bit confused about why there were so few nominations. It’s actually a little bit disappointing to be fair,” said Richardson, who trains at Matamata with Rogan Norvall. “But when I saw there were only four we decided to have a go. I jokingly said we would go as long as we draw barrier one, and we have.” Bonny Lass was one of four late nominations for the juvenile feature as the field swelled to eight, with multiple Group 2-placed Fonsalette also amongst them.