The decision has been made to bypass remaining juvenile stakes races with the talented two-year-old filly Hera.
Trainer Roger James had nominated Hera for the Listed $50,000 Castletown Stakes at Wanganui on Saturday, but after a discussion with part-owner Ron Dixon, the decision has been made to put her aside.
“We’ve decided she’s going out for a spell,” said James. “We’re going to concentrate on the spring with her. She’ll probably only have a month out then be set for some of the fillies’ races.”
Hera made excellent progress through her five-start campaign, being placed in her first three races before breaking through for a win at New Plymouth on May 11. She then stepped up successfully for her first stakes mission when beating Devour in last Saturday’s Listed Graeme Thomson Jewellers Great Northern Foal Stakes at Ellerslie.
The Gr.1 NZ Bloodstock 1000 Guineas at Riccarton in November is the long-term goal for Hera, a daughter of O’Reilly who hails from the same family as Ballroom Babe, head of the 1994-95 Two-Year-Old Free Handicap and winner of three Gr. 1 races including the Ellerslie-Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes double. This is also the family of the Australian Cup winner Dandy Andy.
- The Informant
