By Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes
The jaw dropping, history-making performance of Pride of Jenni in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes was the highlight on Day 2 of The Championships at Royal Randwick. The second consecutive Saturday meeting in Sydney with 4 Group 1’s, was highlighted by the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, which has quickly become the Sydney equivalent of Mooney Valley’s Cox Plate. The race seemed normal at the start as Pride of Jenni chased the lead position early, as she tends to do, before the lead grew and grew. Jockey Declan Bates let the horse go and the lead halfway through the race was larger than most people have ever seen on a racecourse. Race caller Darren Flindell couldn’t believe what he was seeing “We expected her to lead by a long way. But seriously, 30 lengths? This is unbelievable” before adding “I’ve never seen a horse so far ahead in a Group 1”. The official GPS data had Pride of Jenni 91 meters ahead of the second place Mr. Brightside, the equivalent of 38 lengths.
The grandstand camera operator was desperately tried to show the entire field in one shot as Pride of Jenni powered ever further clear, with seemingly little interest from the rival jockeys to get any closer. As Pride of Jenni entered the home straight, Flindell’s call of “She’s still... this is unbelievable, Pride of Jenni about 30 lengths in front in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes! She keeps going coming up the rise”, added to the drama of the moment. Flindell like all watching, were lost for words and this was actually happening in a race which holds high status on the racing scene, a race the champion mare Winx won on three occasions, including her very last appearance on an Australian racetrack, her 37th win and 33rd in a row. Races run under the weight conditions of Weight for Age, are seen as the fairest way to assign weight and 2000 meters is seen as a real champions distance, all the great titans of the turf race and win over that distance, that is how they prove themselves. 2000-meter Weight for Age Australian Group 1s are built to be the box-office events and see a horse do as it pleased in such a race was such a surreal sight. Pride of Jenni did tire, her sectionals weren’t the fastest ever seen, but certainly faster than what is expected for a 2000-meter race, which resulted in her last 200 meters, being her slowest 200-meter sectional in the whole race, but nowhere near enough to ever look like she was going to lose her lead. Bates said after the race that Pride of Jenni “felt [Mr. Brightside] there and I let her go”. “I never looked back; I knew we were a long way in front.” “When I turned for home, I just looked for the winning post”. “She is incredible. She just kept running and nothing got near her”. Pride of Jenni came to the winning post, like all but the first 200 meters of the race, all alone, to claim an amazing win.
Not many historic racing performances at Group 1 level are comparable to Pride of Jenni’s performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, while there have been many instances where a horse has won by a significant margin, Pride of Jenni run a race where a leader went a long way in front and did not give it up. On Australian shores, Lasqueti Spirit’s run-away performance in 2017 VRC Oaks, comes to mind. On that occasion, she got eight lengths in front of second half-way through the race but was about 20 lengths in front of most of the chasing pack including pre-race favourite Yankee Rose. Lasqueti Spirit, who started that race at odds of $101, secured a win in that race, which turned out to be the only one in her entire career. In the 2020 Japan Cup, Kiseki ran out to a 12-length advantage with about 1000 meters to go before eventually being grabbed in the straight and finishing sixth in a race won by the champion mare Almond Eye. Unlike those performances, Pride of Jenni was much preferred in the betting, so with 400 meters to go, it seemed unthinkable that she would get beaten, and what everyone else could do at the point was lineup and try and win the battle for the second-place prizemoney.
The performance of the rival jockeys was heavily criticized. James McDonald, who rode pre-race favourite Via Sistina, who finished second, when asked about the race in the aftermath, stated simply “embarrassing”. Ben Melham who rode Cascadian who came from last to run a respectable fourth said “Dunno what to say really. The race was over after three furlongs. Second and third horses should have tacked up. It was always going to win with a scenario like that.” However, there is no doubting the class of Pride of Jenni, nor the brilliant story behind the horse, that has now won 3 Group 1s, having won the Empire Rose Stakes and the Champion Stakes, both at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup Carnival, in addition to having won $3.7 Million All-Star Mile on March 16th at Caulfield.
Pride of Jenni is owned by Tony and Lyn Ottobre and the Jenni the horse is named after is Jennifier Ottobre, the daughter of Tony and Lyn, who passed away from brain cancer on November 12th, 2015. Jennifer was born on October 30, making the usually very celebratory time of year in racing that is the spring and Melbourne Cup Carnival hit very differently for the Ottobre family, who have sinced incorporated ‘Jenni’ into the name of all the horses they own. The horses became a way to bring some happiness back into their lives after her death. Jennio was the first horse of the Ottobres to carry the Jenni name and Jennifer Lynn’s victory on Melbourne Cup Day, just short of 12 months since Jennifer’s death was as admitted by Tony as “the only really, really great day we had since”.
Pride of Jenni’s victory makes it very likely that she will be named the 2023-24 Australian Horse of the Year, her last six starts have since four wins and two seconds, her prizemoney has now reached over $8.6 Million. Her performance on the track has been a testament to the great work of trainer Ciaron Maher. “Ciaron Maher had this horse in optimal condition, I’d never seen her look so good. I’d thought she looked good at the All-Star Mile, but Ciaron went another 10 percent on top of that” said Tony Ottobre in an interview with Channel 7’s Jason Richardson after the race. The ride of Bates has been crucial to all of her victories, and they have really proven themselves as among the best jockey-horse combinations anywhere in the world right now. While the Jenni name has been carried by many good racehorses owned by the Ottobre’s, Pride of Jenni has cemented her place as the best of those horses and among the best in the world. Her performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes will be remembered for a long time to come, as many racing followers will recall where they were and what they were thinking when Pride of Jenni was 30 lengths in front a Weight for Age Group 1 and never looked like she was giving up her lead in the 6.54 length win.
Comments