For the second time in as many months, Cambridge Stud has won a two-year-old race at Ellerslie with a first-starter by their rookie stallion Hello Youmzain.
The first of the promising pair was Remala, who won on debut on Boxing Day but was subsequently sidelined by a minor setback. On Saturday the black and gold colours were carried to another stylish first-up victory, this time by Lucy In The Sky in the TAB (1100m).
The Tony Pike-trained filly won her only trial on February 11 at Ellerslie and returned to the same venue on Saturday for her first taste of raceday action. Her trial performance made enough of an impression to earn her $2.60 favouritism against a field that included last-start Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) placegetter Miss Ziggy and Gr.3 Colin Jillings 2YO Classic (1200m) runner-up Tajana.
Lucy In The Sky was a little slow to leave the starting gates, but quickly recovered and surged forward to take the lead for jockey Warren Kennedy. She controlled the race from there and kicked strongly off the home turn, putting herself out of the reach of the strong-finishing Miss Ziggy.
Lucy In The Sky crossed the finish line a length and three-quarters in front of Miss Ziggy, with three-quarters of a length back to the third-placed Lollapalooza.
“She was a little bit quirky in the gates and jumped slightly slowly as a result, but she showed good speed to get through to the lead very quickly after that,” Kennedy said. “I asked her to slow back down a little bit down the side and she did, and then I let her run coming up to the corner. I knew they weren’t going to catch us from there.
“She’s a filly with a lot of upside and she definitely had a lot more in the tank today. You can’t fault what she’s done here, all they can do is win. She still has quite a lot to learn, but that will come with racing.”
The TAB reacted to Saturday’s win by adding Lucy In The Sky to the fixed-odds markets for the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day on March 8, as well as the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Trentham on March 29.
Lucy In The Sky now holds third favouritism for both races. She is a $6 chance in the Sistema, with Return To Conquer at $2.20 and La Dorada at $3.20. That Te Akau Racing pair also head the betting for the Sires’ Produce Stakes at $3.80 and $4.20 respectively, with Lucy In The Sky at $5.50.
Pike is not rushing anything with Lucy In The Sky, but was impressed with her performance on Saturday.
“I was a little bit surprised that she started favourite,” the Cambridge trainer said. “She’d trialled well, but she was an inexperienced filly coming up against a handy field of two-year-olds at Ellerslie today.
“For her to come out and win like that on debut shows that she’s quite a promising filly. She appeared to be travelling well and has done it nicely in the end.
“We’ll have a think about whether we come back for the Sistema in a couple of weeks. My gut feeling is it might come up a little bit early for her, but we’ll see how she comes through this race today and take it from there.”
Bred and raced by Brendan and Jo Lindsay, Lucy In The Sky is by Hello Youmzain out of the O’Reilly mare Too Many Diamonds, who is now the dam of five winners from seven foals to race. Her other winners include the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) winner and black-type producer Ruud Not Too.
Multiple Group One-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain has now sired three winners from his first New Zealand crop of two-year-olds – the Cambridge Stud pair of Remala and Lucy In The Sky, plus Bendigo winner and Karaka Millions 2YO eighth placegetter Hello Romeo.