Giving Australian jockey Jake Bayliss a maiden Group One success, Volpe Veloce had the team from Rushton Park cheering when she raced away for a brilliant length and a half victory.
Rushton will offer the Helmet half sister to Volpe Veloce at the Gold Coast in just over a week – the filly catalogued as Lot 531.
The win was also celebrated by the team from Newgate Farm who sold the filly at the 2014 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale to Lyndhurst Farm and stand her sire, the Group One winning sprinter Foxwedge.
Foxwedge has 15 yearlings set to go under the hammer at the 2018 Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Interestingly both of Foxwedge’s Group One winners, Foxplay and Volpe Veloce, were sold through the Gold Coast sale ring.
Volpe Veloce was allowed to settle back in the field and had only one rival behind at the corner, but under the urgings of Jake Bayliss she sprinted home magnificently over the concluding stages.
The winner of 10 of her 13 starts, Volpe Veloce is a true star for the Graham Richardson and Gavin Parker stable at Matamata.
Prior to today her feature race wins have included the Group Two Eight Carat Classic, Group Three Eulogy Stakes and listed Castletown Stakes.
She was sent out the favourite on the wet track today following an awesome first up win at Ellerslie on December 9.
“This means the world to me,” Bayliss told NZ Racing News. “Limited opportunities have stopped me getting success like this, but I’ve been working hard since I came to New Zealand.”
“I’m now a Group One winning jockey, but I just can’t explain the feeling.”
Co-trainer Graham Richardson said the mare would now head to the Telegraph at Group One level and even mentioned Melbourne’s Newmarket Handicap as a possible target.
“It’s amazing isn’t it,” Richardson said. “She deserves it, the owners deserve it and so does (co-trainer) Gavin Parker.”
Winner: Volpe Veloce
Breeding: Foxwedge-Bardego (Barathea)
Race: ARC Railway Stakes G1 (1200m)
Sold for: $120,000
Sale: 2014 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale
Vendor: Newgate Farm
Buyer: Lyndhurst Farm
Earnings: NZ$464,000
Owners: D & C Adams, H Allender, K Anderson, M Chubb, P Dixon, R Featherstone, G Mackin, G Richardson, K & L Robinson, M Skilling, P Spiers, B Wong & K Woodmass
Trainer(s): Graham Richardson & Gavin Parker (Matamata)
