 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2009
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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A year ago, the connections of Lauraella had a nervous couple of weeks leading into the Harness Jewels at Cambridge. Because there were two massive hurdles to overcome, and one of them was out of their hands altogether...firstly, could the filly earn enough money to make the cut-off for the 2YO Diamond field - and furthermore, even if she did, could Mother Nature play her part and install enough power and balance into the lanky filly's frame in time to make her competitive. after all, Lauraella hadn't even won a race at this stage.
In the end the two mountains became molehills; Lauraella's third in the Sires' Stakes Fillies Championship on May 2 lifted her to eighth in the Jewels rankings, and then she went out there and romped away with the 2YO Diamond in NZ record time. Twelve months on, and it's a vastly different picture in many respects: Lauraella has hardly been beaten as a 3YO, and her earnings that count ($323,224) are nearly double that of her nearest rival Joyfuljoy, placing her at the top of the tree.
After her domination continued in the $150,000 Nevele R Fillies Series Final at Addington last Saturday, this year's Diamond looks hers to lose. "She's a brilliant retirement present," says Sandy Yarndley, adding the he and wife Jan are getting a big kick out of "following her everywhere". The couple began scaling down their mammouth involvement in the industry a couple of years ago when selling off most of their farm at Ohaupo to Ken Breckon. Sandy says they have still got shares in quite a few mares, but these days life is all about enjoyment. "I used to fit 'play' around work commitments, now it's the other way around," he smiled.
"I'm playing a lot more tennis, and we also bought a house at Thornton Bay on the road to the Coromandel; you catch snapper off the beach there."
Lauraella is raced by the Yarndleys together with Max and Judith Hunter, under the banner of the Hardwood Breeding Syndicate - named for the fact that the filly's dam Black Maire is named after "a type of hard wood." "We've known Max and Judy for about twenty-three years," Yarndley continued. "They'd raced the odd galloper before, and had been involved in quite a few syndicates with us too. So a few seasons back we offered them the chance to join us in this venture, and now we're all having a hell of a lot of fun."
Black Maire was a Falcon Seelster filly out of the Vance Hanover-Black Watch mare Corbie that won the Yarndleys four races and nearly $40,000. Having captured half of her 18 appearances and nearly $540,000 to date, second foal Lauraella has far exceeded all expectations. "And to think we were one bid away from letting her go at the Sales," Yarndley recalled. "I said to Pynes that if she reaches $80,000 - sell her; she'd gotten to seventy-five, and the next bid would've been eighty. Barrie Rattray from Tasmania was the underbidder, and I even went up to him afterwards and asked if he wanted to take her for the price we were after. But she was a real gangly thing by the time the Sales came around that year, and in the ring she didn't look half as good as she had three or four weeks earlier. Even last year, she was over sixteen hands when we turned her out as a 2YO after the Jewels - so she's always been a big girl."
Buoyed by the fact that Lauraella ended her first season by winning the Jewels at Cambridge, the Yarndleys and the Hunters also took a lot of heart from trainer Geoff Small's opinion. "Geoff always said that she'd need time," he said, knowing that what Lauraella achieved this season is still 'pinch yourself' stuff. A couple of months ago he even said to me how much she reminded him of Mainland Banner. For all his differences, I can't speak highly enough of Geoff and what he and the staff have done for this filly. And David (Butcher) is such a cool driver too."
With a lifetime involvement in harness racing, the Yarndleys are no strangers to success and have raced plenty of good fillies in the past. But it's Lauraella who is taking them to another level, and the juggernaut doesn't look like stopping anytime soon. "We've had horses like Hot Shoe Shuffle and Coburg, but they always seemed to run into one that was better. This year, I think we've got the one that's better."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 13May09