Amarelinha Dominates New Zealand Oaks

Talented 3YO Amarelinha (Sabvabeel-Hopscotch, by O’Reilly) gave her rivals a galloping lesson as she claimed a brilliant victory in the Gr1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham. The Jamie Richards-trained Savabeel filly had been expected to dominate proceedings after winning four of her last five starts, but the $1.60 favourite started poorly. Managing to slot Amarelinha in after a three-wide move, Bosson sent Amarelinha forward to challenge on the home turn and then urged her 2-lengths clear with a brilliant burst of speed. Eventual runner-up Charms Star (Per Incanto-Annistar-Zed) chased gamely after her but had to settle for second, a length astern of the winner, with Llanacord (Contributer-L’Accord, by Golan) making up good ground to finish third. Purchased by David Ellis for $300,000 out of the Waikato Stud draft during the Karaka 2019 Book 1 sale, Amarelinha has now won five of her seven starts and over $517,000 in prizemoney for owners, the Te Akau Hopskip'n'jump Syndicate. According to NZ Racing Desk, Despite the ease of the victory, Richards is in two minds as to whether to extend her campaign with a trip to Sydney or to head to the spelling paddock if the wet tracks across the Tasman persist. “We’ve been to this race [the NZ Oaks] before and haven’t had a lot of luck so I’m glad to tick it off today,” he said.

Amarelinha overcame a poor start in the NZ Oaks (pic: Race Images Peter Rubery)