Ancroft Stud have not been short of top-quality fillies in recent years, and on Friday at Tauranga, Matamata trainer Cody Cole will kick off the career of another future prospect in Luna Star (NZ) (Almanzor).
Luna Star will be Cole’s first representative for the Philip and Catherine Brown-owned operation, with their colours made prominent with superstar mares Levante and Legarto, who have accumulated seven Group One victories collectively in the care of Ken and Bev Kelso.
Passed in as a yearling at Karaka, Luna Star made her way to Cole’s stable, an idea that was sparked after he prepared another Ancroft youngster to sell on.
“I actually had a horse for them that we sold, and instead of the commission, I asked if they would give me a filly to train at some stage if they find the right one,” Cole said.
“The first one didn’t make it to the races, she just had a few too many issues, but this was the replacement. I’m very grateful to get her, she’s out of a good, proven mare and by Almanzor. She’s got a nice pedigree and is a beautiful type.
“She’s probably just taken a wee while to mature up physically and we’re not going to see the best of her until next season, but if she can run a nice race for her first start, she’ll take good improvement out of the experience.
“She’s got a future, it’s just whether we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see it.”
Luna Star will take her place on debut in the Duncan Dental Maiden (1200m), which will also feature her Cambridge Stud-owned stablemate Power Of Three (Yes Yes Yes).
After starting her career in Victoria, the Yes Yes Yes filly made a positive start for Cole at Rotorua, finishing third to promising type Adelante.
“It was a super kick-off point, she didn’t have much form on the board in Australia, but I think that was maturity more than anything,” he said.
“Now that she’s had a bit of time and coping with her training, as they did have issues keeping weight on her over there, she looks like a winner waiting to happen.
“She was vulnerable fitness-wise there and the surface was probably a bit firmer than what she wanted, but she’s come through it well and worked well this morning (Tuesday). She’s an improver off her first run and if she can a bit of luck from the gate, she can feature in the finish.”
In the Rob Pinney Realtycom Maiden (1400m), Trelawney Stud home-bred Astoria Brooke (NZ) (American Pharoah) will have her third race-day appearance after coming from a long way back into fifth at Otaki. The filly holds a special place in the Cole stable as a daughter of Astor, his first black-type winner in the Listed Mufhasa Fasttrack Stakes (1300m) of 2018.
“She’s always looked like a filly who could go well over a mile, she just needs to learn to relax a bit,” Cole said.
“It probably wasn’t Michael’s best ride there at Otaki and he was the first to admit that, but in hindsight, it’s been beneficial, her work since has been much more relaxed and she’s been doing her best work late in her fast work.
“She’s drawn a very tough gate (17) and she’ll need a bit of luck from out there, but I trained the dam who was a stakes winner, and this filly seems to have the ability as well. She’s probably six months away from putting it together, but I do like her.”
Last-start winner Secret Life (NZ) (Contributer) will take her place in the Real Chartered Accountants (1400m), the four-year-old mare by Mapperley Stud’s late sire Contributer.
“She’s a mare that was probably quite immature so we couldn’t quite get the work into her to string the runs together as a young horse,” Cole said.
“She won really well there against the pattern at Taranaki and she prefers a bit of moisture around, so we’ve been waiting on that. I’m happy with her and she’s well capable of stepping up to 65 grade, she’ll be getting back over 1400 and needing a bit of luck and tempo to get into the race.”
Mapperley Stud principal Simms Davison is one of several owners a humbled Cole has plenty of gratitude for.
“I’ve been very fortunate having support from various studs and other owners as well, we’ve got a lot of new owners that have come in probably from half-way through last season to now,” he said.
“It’s good to get the opportunities from those sorts of people, Trelawney and Cambridge, and we’ve always done a bit with Mapperley. Westbury has been one of the biggest supporters early in my career as well.
“When you start out training on your own and without a partnership, you’ve got to make these connections for yourself, which takes some time and effort. It’s great to be rewarded by those bigger studs now which is really encouraging going forward.
“I’m not sure why they’ve chosen me exactly, but it’s very pleasing and I’m very grateful.”
The Westbury Stud association continued at Trentham last Saturday, with promising stayer The Prophet (NZ) (Redwood) blowing away his rivals at his first attempt over ground, despite showing his inexperience through stages of the race.
The 2100m contest was a qualifier for the Dunstan Horsefeeds Championship Final (2400m) on Boxing Day, but Cole is in no rush to step up his patiently handled five-year-old.
“It was super for his first time over ground, he always indicated that he wanted to run a trip but to be fair to the horse, he hasn’t had a lot of luck in his runs leading into that race with wide draws and other factors,” Cole said.
“With his greenness, I’ll just be taking him along quietly, there are plenty of nice staying races after Christmas if he can work his way to that sort of level. But, just with how much he’s doing wrong, a high-pressure race around Ellerslie would probably be throwing him in the deep end a little bit soon.”
