17 Sep 2023Luberon took a winning step toward a Classic goal when she returned in a blaze of glory over 1200 metres at Te Rapa.
Our promising daughter of Embellish is being aimed at the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas by trainer Lance Noble and was produced in forward condition to open her campaign.
Luberon broke well for rider Warren Kennedy to settle one off the fence in fifth spot and she finished determinedly in the closing 150 metres to win with authority.
“She was a little bit vulnerable and there is improvement to come so to beat the older horses was a good effort,” Noble said.
“There’s a three-year-old race for her next on Matamata Cup day and then the G3 Soliloquy Stakes, all going well she’ll head to Christchurch after that.”
Luberon credited our exciting young stallion Embellish with his first winner when she scored on debut last season and was then sidelined after finishing third in the Listed Challenge Stakes.
“She slipped out of the gate and pulled a muscle so that was a really good effort that day,” Kennedy said.
He had few worries at Te Rapa and was impressed with the filly’s resuming performance.
“She did a really good job and picked up nicely in the straight and there is a ton of improvement to come,” Kennedy said.
Luberon is a daughter of the unraced Fastnet Rock mare Elegant Achiever, who boasts the European Group winners Wunder’s Dream, Grecian Dancer, Muffri’ha, Asymetric and Mill Stream on her pedigree page.
Also the dam of the multiple winner Ellmaknifico, Elegant Achiever’s Embellish colt named Ginza was purchased by Te Akau’s David Ellis for $80,000 at Karaka earlier this year and the mare produced another son of Embellish last season.