$3.1 Million from Eight Starts - She Reigns Again

Mark Smith - Saturday February 10

Although it looked more workman-like than brilliant, Golden Slipper heroine She Will Reign opened her autumn campaign with a win in Saturday's $250,000 Inglis Sprint (1100m) on her home track at Warwick Farm.

Reunited with Ben Melham, She Will Reign was not the best to begin but was allowed to find her feet before being surged to the front.

Advertisement

She kept up to the mark by Melham to beat Acqume (Sepoy) by a length with Limbo Soul (I Am Invincible) a length and three-quarters back in third. (photo Steve Hart)


The daughter of Manhattan Rain will now head to Melbourne for the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield in a fortnight.

"It is always a bit nerve-wracking and she was out of her comfort zone but she got the job done and that's what we wanted,' winning trainer Gary Portelli told AAP.

"There is still improvement in her for the Oakleigh Plate.

"I've always thought she was a better horse chasing and if Nature Strip had been there she wouldn't have had to lead."

She Will Reign advances her record to 6 wins and 1 second from 8 starts with earnings of $3,180,400.

Her only failure came at her most recent start in the $10 million Everest.

Bred by Garry Bachell, She Will Reign was a $20,000 purchase for Darby Racing from the Ambergate Farm draft (as agent for Middlebrook Station Thoroughbreds) at the 2016 Inglis Classic Yearling sale.

She is the first foal of the Sydney winning Charge Forward mare Courgette, herself a $25,000 Inglis Premier Yearling.

Courgette is a daughter of the unraced Marscay mare Our Farm Girl a sister to Listed Gimcrack Stakes winner Millie and a half-sister to Listed Winter Cup winner Touch Of Sun (Snippets) out of the Group II Reisling Slipper winner and Group 1 AJC Oaks runner-up Sunshine Sally (Cheraw).

Courgette has a 2yo filly by Shamus Award and a yearling colt by Time For War who was purchased Darby Racing/De Burgh Equine/Portelli Racing for $325,000 at the Magic Millions.

After foaling a filly by Time For War last spring, Courgette was bred back to I Am Invincible.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Unbeaten So You Think 3YO WA's New Excitement Machine
One month to the day since he first set foot on a racecourse, So You Think’s three year old son  Opportunistic remains undefeated from three starts, is a dual stakes winner with earnings of $200,250 to his name, and is WA's new rising star of the turf.
Sires With Winners - Sunday June 29
Here is the full list of 53 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
$3million Won Through Inglis Xtra Bonus
A staggering $3m has now been won as part of the Inglis Xtra Bonus Series following today’s victory by the Cody Morgan-trained 3YO Considered at Dubbo.
Aussie 2YO SW for Tivaci
New Zealand-bred colt Matahga stamped himself as an exciting spring three-year-old prospect with a hard-fought victory in the A$120,000 Listed David Peacock Oaklands Plate (1400m) at Morphettville on Saturday.
Big Pedigrees Don’t Always Spell Black Type
The breeding of thoroughbreds is a very inexact science which is why we saw siblings to a pair of Group I winners fighting out the finish of a very pedestrian 1100m maiden at Ballarat on Sunday.
Another Aussie SW Sourced from Aga Khan Studs
When Australian investors buy tried horses out of Europe from Aga Khan Studs they know they are getting quality, but the good ones don’t come cheap with Elamaz (IRE) sourced from their draft at the Arqana Arc Sale last year for €480,000.
Wootton Bassett Winning Whirl
It was a red letter day for Wootton Bassett (GB) at The Curragh overnight with a treble of winners highlighted by top class filly Whirl, who captured the Group I Pretty Polly Stakes (1m2f), a race won by the mighty Via Sistina in 2023.
How Much for a Snitzel Colt from Winx?
The record price for a yearling by the late champion sire Snitzel stands at $2.8million, but that benchmark looks set to be smashed at Inglis Easter next year.
Sires With Winners - Saturday June 28
Here is the full list of 109 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Better Than Ready’s Metalart Wins Group 3 W J Healy Stakes
Improving off a third in the Listed Lightning Handicap at Eagle Farm recently, 4yo Better Than Ready gelding Metalart stepped up to 1200m to record his first black type success, winning the Group 3 W J Healy Stakes.