Winning Return For Lady Kipling

O’Reilly’s continued run of feature race success was added to at Ellerslie yesterday when Annie Higgins was a dominant winner of the Listed Sunline Vase.

The champion son of Last Tycoon has enjoyed a grand run of late with his daughter Shamrocker winning the Gr 1 Australian Guineas at Flemington at the weekend and his son Guyno continued his excellent form with victory in the Gr 3 Lord Reims Stakes.

Bred and raced by Marie Leicester, Annie Higgins was a richly deserved winner of the fillies’ event after a string of top performances for Matamata trainer Lance Noble. She had previously placed at Gr 2 level in the Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic, the NZ Bloodstock Royal Stakes and the Eight Carat Classic as well as the Gr 3 Eulogy Stakes. Her major target is now the Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks at Trentham.

Annie Higgins was ridden for the first time yesterday by Opie Bosson and he improved quickly to be on the pace with 800 metres to run. They challenged wide out on the turn and raced away to score by a length and a-half.