Lucia Valentina on target

20 March 2015

Improvement is expected from the New Zealand-bred and owned mare Lucia Valentina in Saturday’s $A500,000 Gr.1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill.

The dual Group One winner was a strong first-up fourth for trainer Kris Lees in the Gr.2 Apollo Stakes before finishing midfield in the Gr.1 Chipping Norton Stakes last time out.

“She has come on a lot and hopefully she’s over the second-up blues,” said Bruce Perry, who manages owner Lib Petagna’s bloodstock interests. “I know Kris is pretty excited about her.”

Petagna is also a part-owner of the Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Maygrove, who will continue his build-up toward the Sydney Cup in the $A150,000 Gr.3 Mannion Cup. He was an encouraging fourth in his Australian debut.

“His last run was really good and he ran a pretty quick last 400,” Perry said. “There’s a lot of improvement in him,” Perry said.

Porcia Catonis powers home as Super Seth’s rise continues

Super Seth’s strong run continues with Porcia Catonis, who delivered a dominant win at Riccarton for Fortuna Racing. The lightly raced filly is now a two-time winner and adds to a stellar season for her sire, who boasts three Group 1 winners and a 4.34% G1 winners-to-runners strike rate.

28 May 2025

Gutsy bebut win for Ardrossan’s Macallan

Ardrossan’s son Macallan impressed on debut in Thursday’s opener at Tauranga, overcoming Heavy10 conditions to win the Tierra Maiden 3YO (1200m) by 1.3 lengths. Trained by Wexford Stables and racing for JML Bloodstock, the gelding showed toughness and class to finish strongly before the meeting was abandoned due to weather.