Mare takes treble stakes shot today at Riccarton
La Fille En Jeu will bid to join hallowed company when she contests today’s Listed Daphne Bannan Memorial Great Easter Stakes (1400m) at Riccarton.
The Mettre En Jeu six-year-old mare is shooting for her third straight stakes win, a feat Wanganui trainer Nigel Auret has achieved just once before — with champion two-year-old Pompeii Pearl more than 30 years ago.
La Fille En Jeu has won the South Island Breeders Stakes (1600m) and the Listed Easter Cup (1600m) at Riccarton in her last two outings.
“I hadn’t really thought about it, but it surely is esteemed company,” Auret said of the prospect.
TAB bookmakers opened La Fille En Jeu as a $4.50 favourite for the feature, sharing Auret’s confidence with the frontrunning mare.
“We’re so thrilled with her,” Auret said. “When we first thought about going down there, we thought if she could pick off one of these races, we’d be happy, so for her to have won them both so far and now chasing a third, she’s exceeded our expectations.
“We give Lisa Allpress a lot of credit, too. She’s ridden her really well, but this mare has just strengthened and come into her own.”
Auret, who bred and races ninewin mare La Fille En Jeu with his wife Adaire, said his main concern ahead of today’s race was the prospect of a heavy track.
On tactics, Auret said little was likely to change with the free-goer.
“There’s a bit more speed in this race, but if something wants to take her on, we’ll see what happens. Plenty of horses have tried to take her on in the past and many of them have finished last. It might cost our mare, but it will cost them more.”
Auret said today’s race would be the last of La Fille En Jeu’s campaign, with Hastings features likely to beckon her in the spring. “Our original plan was to mate her in the spring and race on, but that might yet go on hold.”
La Fille En Jeu’s awaiting mate is Unusual Suspect, who stands at the Aurets’ Letham Thoroughbreds in Wanganui. Unusual Suspect covered La Fille En Jeu’s dam Quality Eyes earlier this season.