Pins filly posts emotional victory
25 Apr 2016A touch of divine intervention could well have been at play at Riccarton yesterday when All In Vogue won the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes.
Popular Manawatu thoroughbred breeder Rex Fell, who passed on Friday, was involved in breeding the Pins filly through the Fell family-owned Fairdale and Goodwood Stud operations, with many passing the comment that he would have been watching down with great satisfaction at the victory.
Trainer Kevin Gray recalled inspecting the filly at the 2014 National Yearling Sale and advising stable clients Peter and Min MacDonald to purchase the daughter of top class racemare Tall Poppy.
“She had been passed in when she went through the ring but Paul had asked me to take a look at her and I liked what I saw,” noted Gray. “I asked Rex what he wanted for her and he said it wasn’t a penny less than $50,000, so that’s what Paul paid for her.
“She’s not a very big filly but she is a well-balanced, athletic type who has got better and better as she has matured.”
Punters overlooked All In Vogue’s chances leading into yesterday’s contest after she had finished well back at her most recent runs.
“She’s a filly that has to have good ground so I wasn’t that worried about her form as she had struck a couple of wet tracks lately,” explained Gray.
“She didn’t have much luck last week where she copped a couple of checks so I said to Chris (Johnson) to make sure she went around them rather than try for an inside run as she just isn’t robust enough to make her own luck.
“She was basically the widest runner for the last 600 metres of the race but Chris was very kind to her and she showed she could be a pretty promising stayer with an effort like that.”
The win credited All In Vogue with seven points in the New Zealand Bloodstock Southern Filly of the Year Series, which enabled her to finish in a four-way tie for the title with Canterbury Belle Stakes winner Windborne, NZB Airfreight Stakes winner Honor That and NZB Insurance Stakes winner No Pushover.