The Gr.2 Windsor Park Stud Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) has produced all of the last six winners of the Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), and Matamata trainer Ken Kelso would love to see that trend continue with his classy filly Alabama Lass.
Kelso and his wife Bev will send Alabama Lass out as a red-hot $1.45 favourite for the $175,000 feature at Ellerslie on Saturday. The daughter of Alabama Express also shares $3 favouritism with Captured By Love for the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 16.
The Kelsos completed the Soliloquy-1000 Guineas double with Legarto two years ago, while Media Sensation won the same two races in back-to-back starts for Peter and Dawn Williams in the spring of 2018.
Loire won the 1000 Guineas after being unplaced in the Soliloquy in 2019, and the following year Kahma Lass was runner-up in the Soliloquy and then went one better at Riccarton. The Perfect Pink (2021) and Molly Bloom (2023) both finished fourth in the Soliloquy on the way through to their 1000 Guineas triumphs.
Alabama Lass has made a big impression in her short career to date, recording three wins and a placing from four starts.
She won by nine and a half lengths on debut at Matamata in February, then ran second behind Captured By Love in the Gr.2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) in her only other two-year-old appearance.
Alabama Lass kicked off her three-year-old season with a dominant victory by three and a half lengths at Taupo. In her most recent start, she turned the tables on Captured By Love and impressively won the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings on September 7.
The Kelsos have kept Alabama Lass up to the mark since then with a trial at Matamata on October 8, where she won her 1000m heat by seven lengths.
“She’s had a really good six weeks or so since she won the Gold Trail,” Kelso said. “That trip to Hastings is quite a big one for a three-year-old, so we gave her an easy week afterwards and then started to work her up again.
“She trialled at Matamata a couple of weeks ago and was quite impressive that day, and we’ve been more than happy with everything she’s done since then as well. She’s doing everything right. She’s eating well and working well. She galloped very nicely at Matamata this week. We’re really looking forward to Saturday.”
With all of her four starts so far coming over 1100m or 1200m, the step up to 1400m for the Soliloquy on Saturday is set to answer some of her connections’ questions around what the rest of her season might have in store.
“This race is going to be the test to see how far we’re going to get with this filly,” Kelso said. “Going up to 1400m is the next step in the progression. Hopefully it will give us a good idea of whether or not she’ll see out the mile in the Guineas at Riccarton.
“She relaxes really nicely in her work and in her races, so we’re hopeful that she can go that little bit further.”