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  • Undefeated Filly Claims Prestigious NZB Title

    Tuesday, 23rd March 2021

    Her victory in Saturday’s Gr1 New Zealand Oaks has seen 3YO Amarelinha (Savabeel-Hopscotch, by O’Reilly) finish the NZB Filly of the Year Series with 34 points – an unequivocal 19 points clear of her nearest rival. Overall, she has won five of her seven starts, placing in the other two and earning $518,700 for the Te Akau Hopskip’n’jump Syndicate. Winner of the Gr2 Eight Carat Classic (1600m), Gr2 David & Karyn Ellis Fillies’ Classic (2000m) and Gr3 Sunline Vase (2100m) earlier in the NZB Filly of the Year Series, Amarelinha was expected to carry that dominance up to Group 1 level in Saturday’s series finale, and became the sixth NZB Filly of the Year in the last 15 years for the powerful Te Akau Racing stable. The other five were Costa Viva (Encosta de Lago), King’s Rose (Redoute’s Choice), Insouciant (NZ) (Keeper), Princess Coup (Encosta de Lago) and Shikoba (NZ) (Chief Bearhart). Amarelinha is the first of those to be trained by runaway premiership leader Jamie Richards, who also trains the NZB Filly of the Year Series runner-up Kahma Lass (NZ) (Darci Brahma), who did not run in Saturday’s Oaks. Oaks runner-up Charms Star (Per Inanto) earned 7 points on Saturday, lifting her to a total of 11, while third-placed Llanacord (NZ) (Contributer), picked up another 3.5 NZB Filly of the Year Series points, lifting her to a total of 11.5. The postponement to next Saturday of last weekend's Longines Golden Slipper, with all other Sydney meetings also pushed back a week, means Amarelinha is now a chance to head to Sydney.