Stealing all the glory on Day 2 of The Championships at Randwick was Coolmore Stud’s champion So You Think, who will rocket to the head of the stallion's table, earning a third consecutive Group 1 winner when Damien Oliver coaxed the 5yo mare Nimalee to an easy victory in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.
Trained by Mattew Smith, Nimalee broke a 53-week run of outs in defeating Annavisto (Reliable Man) by two and a quarter lengths with Icebath (Sacred Falls) a head back in third.
The winner of the Group II ATC Emancipation Stakes last April, Nimalee advances her record to seven wins, five seconds, and a third from 22 starts with earnings of $1,149,530.
“Finally, a Group 1 in Sydney,” Smith said..It was not for lack of trying mind you, we’ve had a few swings.
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have a mare like this, as a trainer, you want to be winning a Group 1 with her if you can, but sometimes they don’t.
“Today it just all went to plan, got the right run behind the speed and she was strong to the line.”
“I said to Damien in the paddock before the race ‘I think it’s about time we won one in Sydney’ and he was confident.
“I knew the mare was right so just need a bit of luck in running. It’s a tough race, but she’s a good mare.”
“She raced really well in Melbourne last prep, fourth in a Group 1 there and wasn’t beaten far. We knew she was right up with these mares it was just a matter of getting the conditions right, and she handled the track well today. It’s a good win.”
Randwick Bloodstock Agency Pty Ltd (FBAA) purchased Nimalee for $270,000 from the Millford Thoroughbreds draft at the 2018 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale,
Bred by Cressfield, she is a three-quarter sister to Group III placed The Chairman, out of the Zabeel mare Dezign, an unraced half-sister to Group II winner Star Fashion from Group II winner and Hong Kong Derby heroine Elegant Fashion.
Dezign has just one live foal in the past four years.
She was covered by So You Think again last season.
Nimalee is the ninth Group 1 winner for so You Think.
