Olentia stamps her authority in H B Carr Stakes victory
Chris Waller and Joao Moreira have combined with Olentia on Saturday in the H B Carr Stakes to score in emphatic fashion.
Olentia has stamped herself as a filly on the rise, making the jump from the mid-week BM68 company to Group 3 winner after creeping up the inside running rail to score a dominant half-length victory.
It was a nice watch for backers as Portray crawled along to lead, while Joao Moreira bided his time up the inside, and when the gap appeared exploded to the lead with 200m to go.
Portray battled on for team Godolphin into second position and Magic Time wasn’t disgraced running into third after a torrid run throughout, seemingly travelling wide the entirety of the 1400m contest.
2023 Group 3 H B Carr Stakes Replay – Olentia
Chris Waller spoke post-race for the second time on Saturday, this time about his exciting filly out of Zoustar and her potential moving forward in the campaign.
“This filly has got a story to tell,” said Waller
“She was just going through the motions, we sent her up to our Gold Coast base and Lofty and the team up there did a great job and really made her look quite special.
“We (moved) her down here to Sydney and her first-up run was a win and a much better performance today in a much stronger race.
“I think she is still a time job and probably six to twelve months away.
“Hopefully this horse can continue on like Espiona did.”
Joao Moreira spoke about the tactics post-race and had little choice in taking up the inside running with Olentia giving him a great feel throughout.
“Once she jumped out and put herself into the race quickly then I started to be more and more confident as we went through,” said Moreira
“Approaching the home turn I was little worried to get stuck in there (on the rails,) but fortunately the leader just decided to move off the fence and left a great gap for me on the inside.
“Then she just went through without hesitating, she’s got it. She’s got quality.
“Probably stepping up in distance she is going to appreciate it more, there’s a little bit more to come out of her.”