Lazzura provides another Golden moment for B2B

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The model of consistency, Lazzura (Snitzel) continued a particularly fruitful year for B2B Thoroughbreds on Saturday when recording her seventh career victory in the G2 Golden Pendant, pushing her lifetime earnings past the $2 million mark.

The flash 5-year-old has built an enviable record, running into the top three for 13 out of her 19 starts and has never finished worse than fifth. In fact, it speaks to her consistency that B2B co-director Ricky Surace Jnr can admit that she was “only at about 70%” the start before, when third by half a length to Savvy Hallie (Hellbent) in the G2 Sheraco Stakes.

“She’s probably still one away from her best as well,” he said.

What can be inferred from the modest tones with which Lazzura is discussed is that the really exciting racing still lies ahead - and to look at B2B’s wider stable, that excitement is not with just Lazzura alone.

The next level

Amongst the acceptances for the G1 Epsom Handicap this weekend is Panova (Trapeze Artist), who added to a stellar autumn for B2B when winning the G1 South Australian Oaks. Like Lazzura - and almost all of B2B’s horses - she is trained by Chris Waller.

“Panova's probably our most exciting horse coming through,” Surace Jnr said. “She burst onto the scene with two good stakes wins last spring, and then she had a bit of a setback early in the autumn that put her behind the eightball.”

Nevertheless, the mare persisted to score at the top level, before capping off the season with a second in the G1 Queensland Oaks.

“Getting the Group 1 in Adelaide was great, and she was unlucky in the Queensland Oaks, she finished very close,” Surace Jnr said.

“But we feel she's just gone to another level this spring. Her first-up run in the Tramway was fantastic over a very short distance, so the plan is to run in the Epsom this week, although I am not loving the forecast. She doesn’t do well on wet tracks, so we will be on weather watch and can send her to the Toorak the following week instead.”

The grand goal for the preparation is the G1 Empire Rose Stakes, but Surace Jnr feels like the best is still ahead for the 4-year-old.

“She just gives me the feeling she is going to get progressively better and better,” he said. “She’s no longer a fat little immature filly, she’s a big, strong mare now. I think we will have a lot of fun with her for a few seasons to come.”

Another runner this coming weekend is Generosity (Divine Prophet), who lines up in the G2 Premiere Stakes.

“It’s looking like it will be a tough race,” Surace Jnr said. “But she does her best racing in Sydney and it was a good field in the weight-for-age sprint she won in the autumn. If you take Tempted out of the field this time, it’s a similar line-up.”

Surace Jnr admitted that the 6-year-old is almost definitely in her final season of racing before a broodmare career beckoned, but she was showing enough improvement for the team to feel confident in giving her another chance. She had almost gone through the ring earlier in the year, in a move Surace Jnr called “a little premature”.

“We had a long discussion about whether we would even race her on in the spring this year, but she just felt so well and her trials were phenomenal,” he said. “She’s as good as ever, if not better. She wasn't giving us a reason to stop.”

The goal is the G2 Sydney Stakes a fortnight later, with a $2 million prize pool on offer.

“She was the favourite last year, but it was a day when no one could make up any ground,” Surace Jnr said. “So we have a bit of unfinished business there.”

The other autumn highlight, G3 Canonbury Stakes winner Hidrix (Extreme Choice), has a little more ground to make up to match his female stablemates.

“He’s a really good horse, but he’s a bit of a nepo-child,” Surace Jnr said. “He has all the ability and pedigree in the world, but he doesn’t really want to try at the moment. We have sent him out for a nice break and we are hoping the penny will drop in the autumn.”

Stars of the future

Generosity was sourced as a tried horse from Perth, and B2B returned to the far west earlier this year to pick up 3-year-old Striking Alibi (Hanseatic), who was previously trained by Luke Fernie. The $10,000 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale graduate was a sizzling winner on debut in April for Fernie, and a week later she led the field for most of the G2 Karrakatta Plate before being overwhelmed in the final furlong.

Nevertheless, she had shown enough to attract the attention of B2B Thoroughbreds.

“Generosity was really well performed when we bought her, but this filly here wasn't well performed,” Ricky Surace Jnr. “But her ratings were good enough to be competitive with the best fillies in Sydney.”

Of course, that leap is easier said than done, but the filly has been placed in the capable hands of Waller and his team, and has already shown those ratings weren’t far off. After two sharp trials, she chased Bangkok Hottie (Too Darn Hot {GB}) home in the G2 Furious Stakes to run third by less than a length, before going one better in the G2 Tea Rose Stakes.

“She was very unlucky in the Furious,” Surace Jnr lamented. “She should have won it, but it was still very satisfying to see her perform like that, since we had taken a bit of a risk on her. There's not many horses that can just come from running in handicaps in Perth straight into a Group 1 filly series in Sydney and run so well.

“And it was a fantastic run in the Tea Rose. Everything that could go wrong went wrong, but her tenacity to pick herself up off the ground many times and run a very, very close second, it was phenomenal.”

What excites B2B is knowing that the filly is far from the finished product.

“She’s still figuring it out, but she has earned a run in the Flight Stakes this weekend,” Surace Jnr said. “I don’t think the mile is ideal, but then we didn’t think the 1400 was ideal and she ate it up, so at the end of the day, you don’t really know.

“But she has a booming turn of foot and James McDonald will ride her again this weekend. The Surround looks like a great race for her in the autumn. I'm hoping she's going to be a bit of a star of the future.”

Amongst their other emerging players is Bravira (Zoustar), an $825,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale who debuts at Rosehill on Wednesday.

“Bravira will come into her own in the autumn, I think,” Surace Jnr said. “She’s a typical Zoustar - she needs to furnish, but she has a lot of raw ability.”

At the same venue this year, B2B signed for the full sister to Lazzura, although her $1.8 million price tag was a little bit more than what they paid for her big sister.

“I wouldn't say it's quite sentimental, if we didn't like the horse, we would not have bought it, but she is a bit special,” Surace Jnr said. “She's exactly like her sister, just a lighter colour. It’s exactly the same physique.”

The filly, who has been named Tavolara (Snitzel), has shown signs she could be more precocious than her sister, but there is no rush from the B2B team.

“We want our horses to be running at three, four, five, and be getting out to middle distances,” Surace Jnr said. “So we will be patient, but she's obviously a filly we're very excited about.”

Systems that work

B2B races their horses almost exclusively with Waller, and while it hardly needs to be explained why you would place your horses with the champion trainer, Surace Jnr outlined that the success is just part of the picture.

“Our relationship with Chris and his team is fantastic,” he said. “We feel very close to them, and what works great is that we leave each other to do our own jobs. We have our own spelling and pretraining management system to ensure they become strong and are properly educated, and then when they go into the stable, it’s all up to Chris.

“We give all of our horses time and look after them, but Chris has a knack for some of these mares. I don't know how he can get them into such great form over so many seasons and for them to continuously improve, but that's his secret and I hope no one ever finds it out.”

B2B has spent a lot of time cultivating the connections outside of the stable to build their management program.

“We cut no corners,” Surace Jnr said. “We make sure they're in the best facilities. We make sure they're handled by the best people. They're being pre-trained by the best people, whether that's Matt Vella or Tim Boland from Limitless Lodge. We use great farms like Oakridge Lodge and previously Segenhoe. We utilise a range of technology to make sure we are selecting the best horses possible to purchase and then ensuring their preparation and spelling gives them the best possible chance to succeed.

“We've been mentored by the best as well, such as Rick Jamieson from Gilgai Farm, who is in my opinion the best breeder in the world.”

Jamieson’s ability to achieve success by looking beyond the service fee has rubbed off on B2B, and has led them to consider horses with breeding and by sires that normally might slip under the radar.

“It’s extraordinary for a breeder to have the kind of strike rate he does when he is breeding a fifth of what the big studs would be,” Surace Jnr said. “He doesn’t care about the service fee - he will send a million dollar mare to a $22,000 stallion because the pedigree works, and he’s been immensely successful that way. He is so passionate about it.

“And if you look at some of the top horses at the moment, Sheza Alibi and Pride Of Jenni, and some of our good horses, they are not by champion sires. It proves that if you do the hard yards when you are looking, you can find a good horse anywhere.”

A promising curveball

One horse is trained a few stable blocks away from the others at Rosehill, by Richard and Will Freedman. The homebred Revolina (Russian Revolution) has yet to debut, but she was beaten a whisker in her most recent trial when pushing Pacifico (The Autumn Sun) to the line. The gap back to third was five lengths.

“We have had two really good jockeys jump off her and say she's pretty smart, so she's certainly a hope,” Surace Jnr said. “She could be one that we could aim up towards our slot in the Sunlight in January. She has a lovely pedigree and she will likely debut in the next fortnight.”

Despite being out of a winning I Am Invincible half-sister to dual juvenile Group performer Smart Manoeuvre (Smart Missile), Revolina fell victim to the peaks and troughs of a young stallion’s career.

“She was one of some 80 Russian Revolution fillies, and that was the year he went cold, so no sales company wanted her,” Surace Jnr said. “Even though she was such a nice-looking horse, they wouldn’t take her. I thought, ‘well, I believe in her, she always had something about her and the mare was really good. Stuff it, let’s give her a go’, so hopefully we get rewarded.”

Surace Jnr is pleased to see the filly show flashes of ability so far, particularly considering the decision to send her to the Freedmans was primarily driven by friendship.

“I was really excited to give Will that filly, not because she's a nice horse, but more importantly, he's such a great mate,” he said. “Richard obviously needs no introduction and neither does Will, but for them to go out and essentially start a business from scratch over the last few years in the most competitive racing jurisdiction in the world, it's certainly a credit to them.

“They're great people and they’re doing a great job, and I am sure we will see their impact in city racing grow over the next few years.”

Perhaps Revolina could be one of their next stars.

That little bit better

The next stop for Lazzura is the G2 The Invitation at the end of October, where she will look to build upon her impressive track record.

The winner of six stakes races from two onwards, her last 17 starts have been at Group 2 level or above, bar one, and she scored her first top level win in the autumn, winning the G1 Coolmore Classic before running second in the G1 All Aged Stakes to Beiwacht (Bivouac).

“That’s always been the main goal this spring,” Surace Jnr said of the Invitation. “It’s still a while away, but now is the time where Chris’s systems come into their own a bit - she will probably go out for a week now, come back and have a trial, then get ready for that race.”

It isn’t the only race on the agenda for the preparation, but Surace Jnr is not afraid to admit that there are a few complicating factors when it comes to planning her preparation.

“It's funny, I was talking to someone on the radio the other day and they said she's one of the best mares in Australia, but she's not the best because we're racing in the times of Autumn Glow and Sheza Alibi,” he said.

“You have to be careful with how you place a mare like her who is so consistently good, but you're having to alter plans to not bump into those absolute superstars. You want to race your horses where they are going to be competitive and these genuine freaks are just so superior to anything else out there right now.”

Much as there were very good horses that ran in the shadows of Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) and Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), there are those trying to dodge the shade cast by Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) and Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}). While B2B aren’t afraid of healthy competition, they are aware that racing careers are finite - and many do end in the sales ring.

“It’s very important to continue building up value, especially with mares, and proving their consistency,” Surace Jnr said. “Hopefully she can continue that momentum this preparation, and from what we have seen, she might even be a little bit better.”