Lisa pull right rein in Eulogy

Lisa Allpress made a smart call when she opted to partner the WS-bred and owned Coldplay in Saturday’s Gr 3 Eulogy Stakes at Awapuni. The Wanganui rider gave the Savabeel filly an ideal run to claim top honours in the feature event on the card.

The jockeys’ premiership leader said she had also been offered the mount on the Roger James-trained Cool Tart, but settled on Coldplay after talking with Opie Bosson, who had ridden the three-year-old at her last two starts.

“I spoke to Opie at the races on Thursday at Hawke’s Bay and he said she had been unlucky at her last start and thought she could win,” Allpress said. “She’s pretty progressive and they said to be fourth or fifth on her in the running so they were pretty easy instructions and it all worked out.”

Coldplay’s next outing has yet to be set in stone, but the Gr 2 Eight Carat Classic is a strong possibility. “It’s probably the logical step for her and the timing is pretty good – you have to keep chasing black type with these fillies,” co-trainer Andrew Forsman said.

She is out of the O’Reilly mare Forty Two Below, who is a sister to the Australian stakes winner The Big Chill.

Awapuni was also the stage for the Savabeel four-year-old Shillelagh to continue her perfect run of form. She remained unbeaten in three appearances after winning the Rating 85 sprint, in which WS’s Mary Quant (O’Reilly-Legs) was a solid third.