Fashion aces at the races
Moroney filly pins down the field in classic Ellerslie upset
It was all colour, fancy frocks and a touch of vintage that proved the winning formulas in this year’s Fashion in the Fields.
The glorious sunshine at the Boxing Day Races at Ellerslie yesterday was welcome after days of rain, and allowed the 12,000 punters a chance to show their best outfits.
But it was Aucklanders Soraya Gurney and Patric Seng who took out the female and male awards at the 31st Fashion in the Fields event.
Gurney, 33, wore a phoenix print dress and built the rest of her outfit around it. It was her second time entering after being a finalist on Melbourne Cup Day at Ellerslie.
“It was my first time on a runway, it was very nerve-racking, but amazing. Winning feels like a dream, I think I am hooked on it now.”
Seng, 31, went for a “classic English gentleman” look, with a suit from Aquila in Melbourne, fitted white shirt from Institute and a couple of vintage accessories.
“The look I am going for is very classic English gentleman.”
Canadian professional tennis player Eugenie Bouchard, in town for the ASB Classic starting on December 31, was a guest judge.
“I have never done anything like that, but I am really into fashion. I felt like I had a lot of power deciding.
“I just went for the most wild, fashion-forward, what you are supposed to dress like today, right?”
Her fellow judges were Sarah Stuart, Hannah Marinkovich, Tracey Dalton and Lourdaiz Ah Chong.
Lightly-raced filly Pinmedown caused an upset when winning the group two Cambridge Stud Eight Carat Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, paying $33.40 for the win.
Prepared at Matamata by Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard, Pinmedown was having just her fourth raceday start and tracked eventual runner-up House of Cartier ($18) as the pair came from the rear of the field to run past the highly rated Queen Of Diamonds ($3.50).
A last-start midweek winner at Hawke’s Bay, Pinmedown was ridden to her second career success by Australian jockey Jake Bayliss, who had been sidelined by suspension for the last three weeks.
“She has always been a nice filly and Pam has done a great job with her,” Moroney said.
“I was talking to Pam two weeks’ ago and when we were going through programmes she was quite happy to throw her in the deep end and it has worked out the right way.
“She got a bit further back than we wanted from that draw [barrier 4], but she was going to get caught very wide, so he did the right thing and went back.
“I had a look at the favourite [Media Sensation] as they turned in and it was under a bit of a ride and our horse was still going easy, so I thought then that she was some chance.”
The disappointment of the race was group one New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) winner Media Sensation, who was sent out a $3.50 equal favourite but was under pressure a long way from home on the testing Heavy 10 track and eventually finished last.
Moroney said the well-related daughter of Pins was unlikely to backup in next week’s group two Valachi Downs Royal Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie, which is the next event in the lucrative New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year Series.
“She is going to be on an Oaks campaign, all going well,” Moroney said. “She is a three-quarter sister to [Hong Kong star] Ambitious Dragon and she is now a very valuable sort of filly.
“We will probably just give her time to get over this. She can be a bit fragile. She got a little bit on her toes before the race, but she is learning and she has got any amount of ability by the look of her.”
Bought for $28,000 by Moroney’s brother Paul at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock Select Yearling Sale, Pinmedown was sold by Masterton’s Ardsley Stud.