Matamata trainer Richards admitted the week hadn’t gone entirely to plan, but it ended on a high on Saturday with Kahma Lass (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) landing the G1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas with barnmate Cornflower Blue (NZ) (Savabeel) third.
Their stablemate Avonalla (NZ) (Belardo {Ire}) also won the Listed Frantic Bloodstock Welcome S. while Summer Monsoon (Stratum), Remmington (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and Markus Aurelius (NZ) (Ghibellines) were successful in undercard events while Festivity (I Am Invincible) was successful at Tauranga.
“It hadn’t been the best of carnivals for us to be fair until today so it’s fantastic and it's a great team effort by all the staff,” Richards said. “Dad (Paul) has been down here with the horses and I can’t thank all the team enough.”
Raced by Cambridge Stud principals Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Kahma Lass was making just her fourth race day appearance and had been a previous winner at Avondale before she finished runner-up in the G3 Soliloquy S.
Sporting the proven Group 1 colours of top mare Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel), rider Opie Bosson had the filly in midfield and once he got her into clear air she responded positively in the straight.
“The race worked out pretty well in the end. There wasn’t a lot of tempo and she got up on heels at the half-mile before getting to the outside and that was probably the winning of the race,” Richards said.
“She’s a good filly and we had the right man on board and we get a big thrill out of winning races for Brendan and Jo, they are big supporters of ours.
“She’s a good filly and we had the right man on board and we get a big thrill out of winning races for Brendan and Jo, they are big supporters of ours.” – Jamie Richards
“She had gone the right way since her last race and her work at home had been pretty sharp. There were a few hairy moments when the plane was held up on Thursday, but she got here in good shape.”
Kahma Lass has benefitted from a patient approach and, despite winning a trial last season, it was decided not to race her as a juvenile.
“We knew she was pretty sharp when she trialled up at Te Aroha as a 2-year-old, but she needed a bit of time. That’s the good thing about training for Brendan and Jo, nothing is a problem and they give them the time they need.”
Richards was also thrilled with the effort of Cornflower Blue, who lodged her bid closer to the fence where the ground was worn after three days of racing.
Kahma Lass (NZ) (yellow and black check) | Image courtesy of Race Images South
“She was down in the worst of the ground so she ran very well in a fantastic result, for us” he said.
Bred by Nearco Stud, Kahma Lass was bought out of Curraghmore’s draft at the New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale for NZ$290,000 and signed for by Te Akau’s David Ellis.
She is a sister to the Singapore stakes winner Distinctive Darci (NZ) and a half-sister to the multiple black-type winner Kuro (Denman). Further back in the family is the dual Group 1 winner Bomber Bill (Air De France), whose sister Camargue won the G3 Thoroughbred Club S.
“Wasn’t that just fantastic, I could see she was going well at the top of the straight and my goodness, what a ride,” Brendan Lindsay said. “We thought we had a chance, but there were a lot of really good fillies in the race.”
Kahma Lass (NZ) as a yearling
Delighted Bosson
For Bosson, he was delighted to be back in the winner’s circle in the Cambridge Stud colours.
“They have been pretty good to me in the last few years and to get another Group 1 is awesome,” he said. “She over-raced a bit when they eased up in the middle stages and I ended up behind Tinker McPhee, which was just ideal.
“Turning for home, I had a lap full of horse and the splits all came at the right time.”
Splitting the Richards stablemates was Miss Tycoon Rose (Written Tycoon), who powered home from well back in the field and Tinker McPhee (Nostradamus) who finished fourth.
That was her farewell performance as she will now join Chris Waller’s Sydney stable with original Australian-based owner Richard Boyd remaining in the new group to race the filly following a deal struck with the team behind the six-time Group 1 winner Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}).
