Underthemoonlight wins Seeka Tauranga WFA Classic

Underthemoonlight
Underthemoonlight relished the wet conditions at Tauranga to win the Seeka Tauranga WFA Classic. Photo: NZ Racing Photos

A change in fortune was enough to see Underthemoonlight win the $50,000 Seeka Tauranga WFA Classic on Saturday.

The Karyn McQuade-trained mare looked one of the more promising wet track types last season when taking out the Taranaki Breeders Stakes, but a string of bad luck performances has plagued its campaign this time around.

The five-year-old was well-supported with punters at $4.80 with Ladbrokes.com.au and it tracked the favourite New York Minute into the race with style. Jockey Cameron Lammas, who won earlier in the day aboard Kamikaze Rebel, stalked the leader before kicking clear over the concluding stages.

“She did it well,” Lammas said. “She came up to the other horse (New York Minute) and laboured a bit, but then she took off and she won it quite easily in the end.”

On the heavy surface at Tauranga, many jockeys have defied the usual track bias by coming down centre track and that’s where Lammas was able to position the four-time winner.

“She didn’t really handle it (the conditions). I found a good enough part of the track for her and she’s done the job for me,” Lammas added.

Ladbrokes.com.au

Stable representative and co-owner Hamish McQuade was happy to see his runner finally get some luck in running after sitting wide at its last couple.

“She’s a fantastic mare and all the form analysts got it wrong…she just had no luck her last three starts,” McQuade said. “She was three wide in the open, four wide in the open.

“I asked Micky (Michael Coleman, jockey) to put her in behind the leaders last start, but we didn’t know they would run that like a 1200m race, she was just a sitting duck.”

A better ride and some timely luck was enough to win the feature at Tauranga on Saturday and McQuade knew Undethemoonlight had it wrapped up a long way from home.

“Cameron rode a great race today and job done,” he said. “600m from home I was screaming! She was bolting.”

Having only won four races, many punters have questioned its ability to win on the big stage, but with the sting out of the ground there’s no doubting its ability at the top level.

“I firmly believe she’s a group one horse, so long as she can get her toe into the ground,” McQuade said. “I think she can be competitive in a group one race.”

Underthemoonlight won’t head to the Hastings spring carnival and instead will enjoy a deserved spell.

“She won’t be back for the early races at Hastings, she’ll have a break now,” McQuade added.

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