3 minute read

Loire provided her late sire Redoute’s Choice with his 36th Group One winner.

The victory of Loire in Saturday's New Zealand 1000 Guineas (Group 1) provided her late sire Redoute's Choice with his 36th Group One winner and 168th stakes winner. Despite displaying some wayward tendencies over the closing stages, the Tony Pike-trained filly stamped her class in emphatic style as she took out the Group 1. 

Loire had been to the forefront of discussions in the weeks leading up to the Riccarton feature before a below par effort in the Soliloquy Stakes (Group 3) over 1400 metres at Ellerslie last month.

A vet inspection revealed the Redoute's Choice filly had suffered a heart fibrillation with Pike confident she would still be able to show her best as he pressed on to the Group 1 feature for breeders Brent and Cherry Taylor of Trelawney Stud, who share in the ownership with Kate Plaw.

Left alone by punters, who rallied behind her stablemate Kali and the unbeaten Travelling Light, Loire overcame a slow start and a muddling pace to charge into a challenging position halfway down the long Riccarton home straight.

Just as jockey Michael McNab looked to have her cruising to a comfortable win, Loire took a hard turn to the left which cost her some forward momentum. McNab gathered her up and returned her to a level course to the winning post which she reached half a length to the good of a game runner-up in Jennifer Eccles, with Travelling Light resolute in third after making all of the early running as a reluctant pacemaker.

"Ellerslie was a real mystery as her two runs at Hawke's Bay over 1200 metres, a distance too short for her, were very very good," Pike said.

"We always thought this was the race but when you have those heart problems, they can be one-offs which we hoped was the case when the tests came back all clear.

"She had worked super coming into the race so we rolled the dice.

"She is a very good filly who is only going to get better as she gets up over further."