Crown Prosecutor lays down law
A well-judged front-running ride from Jason Waddell aided Crown Prosecutor to claim his maiden win in the Gr.3 Lucia Valentina Wellington Stakes (1600m) at Otaki yesterday for Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh.
It was a fitting result, given Crown Prosecutor sports the colours of partowner Lib Petagna, who raced triple Group One winner Lucia Valentina, the 2013 winner of the race and whom the event is now named after.
Crown Prosecutor had been placed in two of his three starts, but showed significant improvement to win the mile feature, defeating Swords Drawn by a neck, with the fast-closing Sentimental Miss a nose away in third. “It was a great ride to go straight to the front with the blinkers on today,” Marsh’s racing manager Todd Pollard said. “He’s a lovely colt, he’s got a great physique.”
The Medaglia D’Oro colt was purchased by Bruce Perry, racing manager for Petagna who shares in the ownership with Harvey Green.
● Talented sprinter Gift of Power took her stakes-winning tally to three at Otaki yesterday when she won the Levin Stakes (1200m) in dominant fashion.
The 4-year-old mare was caught three-wide in an early speed duel with Shadow Fox and race-favourite Indecision, but jockey Lisa Allpress was able to wrestle the ascendancy for the role of pacemaker and the daughter of Power was never headed.
The Team Rogerson-trained runner set a blistering pace, winning by two and a half lengths over Rock ‘N’ Affair in a slick time of 1.09.59.
“She was certainly dominant. It takes a very good young mare to do that, sit three wide, do the work and leave them behind,” co-trainer Graeme Rogerson said.
The $180,000 NZ Bloodstock yearling sale purchase has the Gr.1 Sistema Railway at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day and Gr.1 JR & N Berkett Telegraph at Trentham on her hit-list.