Luberon Heads Cambridge Stud Saturday Charge

Media Release - Friday November 22

Lance Noble will attempt to add to a strong run of spring form for Cambridge Stud when he sends out five well-credentialled runners in Brendan and Jo Lindsay’s black and gold colours at Pukekohe on Saturday.

Noble trains privately for Cambridge Stud at Karaka and has collected six wins so far this season, headed by a dominant performance by Luberon in last month’s Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) at Rotorua. That came the day after the Lindsays won the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Te Rapa with the Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall-trained Snazzytavi.

Luberon will contest Saturday’s Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m) at Pukekohe.  Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)

That winning sequence continued in last Saturday’s Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m), which was won by up-and-comer Bella Waters for trainers Moira and Kieran Murdoch.

Those racing successes have been backed up on the stallion front by the likes of Hello Youmzain, who sired his first southern hemisphere at Bendigo earlier this month, and Almanzor with Mehzebeen’s Listed Metropolitan Trophy (2600m) and Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) double in Christchurch.

“It’s been a really good spring for the Cambridge Stud-owned racehorses as well as the stallions,” Noble said. “Our own team has been going well, and it’s been great to see the big wins for other stables like Moira with Bella Waters and Richie with Snazzytavi as well. It’s always good to see the colours flying high.

“I think we’re heading to Pukekohe on Saturday with a nice team of horses that can all be very competitive, and hopefully they might keep this good run going. But it’s a big day of racing and they don’t give these prizes away.”

Luberon will shoot for back-to-back feature sprint wins when she lines up in Saturday’s Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m). The daughter of Cambridge Stud stallion Embellish will carry minimum weight with 53kg against a line-up that includes Group One winners Crocetti and Waitak along with multiple elite placegetter Babylon Berlin.

“She’s been doing very well since the Sweynesse,” Noble said. “I’ve been deliberately keeping her races quite widely spaced out, because that’s the way she seems to perform best. She’s trained on really well and trialled nicely about 10 days ago.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes on Saturday. There are some quality horses in that line-up, but I think she can be competitive from where she is in the handicap. She’s very, very well.”

Advertisement

Stablemate Terra Mitica will carry that same 53kg impost in Saturday’s Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m). The Irish-bred daughter of Ulysses was a winner over the course and 2100m last December, and she was a last-start third placegetter in the Gr.3 Balmerino Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie behind El Vencedor and Wolfgang.

“The Counties Cup has come up a really even line-up, and with the topweight (No Compromise) compressing the remainder of the weights, I think you can make a case for a lot of runners,” Noble said. “But I’ve been happy with the way this mare built into this campaign, and she’s a previous winner at the course and distance, so I think it’s a good race to be targeting with her and I expect her to run a good race.”

The Gr.2 Dunstan Horsefeeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) is a big step up in class for Jaarffi, who has won four of her 11 career starts to date including a stylish last-start victory in an open handicap at Ellerslie on October 26.

“This is a step up in class, but she definitely deserves a shot at a race like this,” Noble said. “She hasn’t done much wrong in her whole career, and she has just kept getting better with age. La Crique and Campionessa are the benchmark horses here, and if she can hold her own against them, that will set her up nicely for some other nice targets around Christmas.”

Noble also has two runners on Saturday’s undercard. Last season’s Gr.2 Sir Patrick Hogan Stakes (2050m) winner About Time will line up in the Skycity Horizon (1600m), while last-start Rating 65 winner Frostfair steps up into Rating 75 company for the Stella Artois 1500 Championship Qualifier (1400m).

“About Time has just taken a few runs this time in, but I’m happy with the way she’s progressing,” Noble said. “She’s another one that has won at this track previously, and I think she can run a good race over 1600m.

“Frostfair has never been out of the first four in her career. She won very nicely last start and has trained on well. She’s quite a promising mare.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

Advertisment
More Reading...
Second Stakes-Winner for Embellish
Cambridge Stud’s outstanding weekend continued at Rotorua on Sunday, with their exciting mare Luberon adding a valuable black-type success to her name in the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m).
Sires With Winners - Thursday May 29
Here is the full list of 41 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Cambridge Stud Filly Luberon Ready for G2 Soliloquy
Luberon will bid to complete a hat-trick of wins on Saturday and remain undefeated this preparation ahead of her spring grand final at Riccarton next month.
Breeding To Win - 2025 G1 Queensland Derby
It’s been 15 years since Dariana thumped the colts to win the Queensland Derby (2400m) in 2010 and maybe it’s time for another filly to triumph!
Sires Pack Profitable Punch at Weanling Sale
There are many members of New Zealand’s stallion ranks whose progenies racetrack results far exceed their service fee.  Next month’s NZB National Weanling Sale at Karaka is an ideal opportunity for traders and end users to secure the progeny of these creditable sires.
King’s Legacy Filly Wins by Three
The Lindsay Park team produced an impressive juvenile winner at Pakenham on Thursday evening with King’s Legacy filly Bella Pietra winning as she pleased.
Juvenile Trial Watch - Rosehill
Trials this morning at Rosehill were run on a heavy 9 so horses were well held together and not asked for too much, but there were still a couple of intriguing unraced heat winners by Extreme Choice and Justify (USA), plus we got another look at the $1.4million Wootton Bassett (GB) colt from Sunlight.
Luberon Keeps Winning Run Going for Cambridge Stud
Quality mare Luberon put a classy field of sprinters to the sword at Pukekohe on Saturday when she dashed away in the closing stages to score a handsome victory in the Gr.3 Haunui Farm Counties Bowl (1100m).
Little Avondale’s Weanlings Follow Successful Footsteps
Graduates of Little Avondale Stud’s drafts at the NZB National Weanling Sale have a proud record of racetrack success, and stud principal Sam Williams believes his class of 2025 compares favourably with previous years.
Expensive Ghaiyyath Colt Wins Stakes
Darley shuttler Ghaiyyath (IRE) had his first Australian winner earlier this week and overnight produced a new stakes-winner in the UK where Godolphin owned colt Opera Ballo won the Listed Heron Stakes (1m)at Sandown.