 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| De Lovely (inner) beating Nearea Franco |
Red-hot favourites usually win by more than a pencil line. So De Lovely gave those who backed her into $1.20 plenty of reasons to panic as she scraped home by the barest of margins at Addington on Friday night.
But don't blame De Lovely - point the finger at Nearea Franco, because she and Craig Thornley did such a sterling job of pacemaking in the $80,000 Group 1 PGG Wrightson NZ Breeders Stakes that they almost stole the unstealable. After all, just under a week earlier De Lovely had zoomed past the winner of our last two New Zealand Cups and won under a hold by nearly two lengths. Six days later she needed a good couple of cuts with the whip from David Butcher to nab Nearea Franco on the line. And only just got there.
The two great mares were clearly superior to their eight other rivals, proved in no uncertain terms by the seven and a half length margin back to Lancome in third place after torrid final sectionals of 56.2 and 27.5. But for De Lovely it'll go down as another victory in her brilliant career, the 15th time she's saluted in 24 appearances, good for nearly $650,000 in stakes for the Les Girls No.2 Syndicate who bred and race the 4-year-old daughter of Falcon Seelster and Copper Beach.
De Lovely's only defeat in 12 starts since May last year came in the Group 2 Premier Mares Championship on January 21, her third to Beaudiene Bad Babe that night denying her the chance to join Kiwi Ingenuity(2009), It's Ella(2007), Mainland Banner(2006), Coburg(2004), Kym's Girl(2000), Lento(1996), Blossom Lady(1993 & 1991), Gina Rosa(1989) and Bionic Chance(1988) on the coveted list of those who have won the two big Addington mares' features in the same season.
Credit: John Rpbinson writing in HRWeekly 16Feb 2011