Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Written by Jessica Owers
For the first time in five years, after a hiatus as the G1 Coolmore Legacy, the G1 Queen of the Turf S. is back to its old self, and brags a robust lineup on Day 2 of Saturday’s The Championships.
Thirteen of the best mares in racing will head to the post for the time-honoured mile, including Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel), Colette (Hallowed Crown) and Greysful Glamour (Stratum). Also among them is last-start G2 Emancipation S. winner Nimalee (So You Think {NZ}).
Champion’s pedigree
Bred by Cressfield Stud, 4-year-old Nimalee is from the New Zealand mare Dezign (Zabeel {NZ}), an unraced half-sister to stakes winner Star Fashion (Street Cry {Ire}).
It’s an incredible family down the page.
Second dam Elegant Fashion (Danewin) was a three-time Group winner in Australia before stints in Hong Kong in both 2003 and 2004, where she won the G1 Hong Kong Derby. Further back, there’s the Champion filly Highclere (GB) (Queen’s Hussar {GB}), who got the dam of Champion stayer Nayef (USA) and Champion 3-Year-Old Nashwan (USA).
Nimalee, foaled in 2016, was consigned by Millford Thoroughbreds at the 2018 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, and purchased by Randwick Bloodstock Agency for $270,000. She has since won close to $360,000.
Nimalee as a yearling
The great unknown
Nimalee is trained at Warwick Farm by the likeable Matthew Smith, and has won half of her 12 starts, with a further four places. She has been off the podium only twice.
“She has trained on super since the Emancipation,” Smith said. “She looks great and her work has been good, and obviously she needs to go up another level this weekend. Whether she can do that is the question, and we’ll find out on Saturday.”
Nimalee is yet to contest a Group 1. However, she is tried in Group 1 company, racing against the likes of Greysful Glamour and Emeralds (Sebring) in past outings.
“Stepping up to Group 1 level is always a big leap,” Smith said, “and this is a tough field that she’s coming up against. These are genuine Group 1 horses, and we don’t know whether she’s that yet. She’s got to prove it. She was good the other day, and she can win a Group 2, but this is another level again.”
Matthew Smith
Nimalee has drawn barrier nine for the Queen of the Turf, an awkward-enough draw for the Randwick mile. Smith said it wasn’t ideal to be wide, but he’s equal parts pragmatic and amused.
“That’s the game, isn’t it,” he said. “You’ve just got to deal with it. It’s always no good when you draw out there, unless you’ve got greyhounds and they like to get out on the outside. But it’s not great when you’ve got gallopers really.”
“That’s the game, isn’t it. You’ve just got to deal with it (bad draws)." - Matthew Smith
Rachel King will ride, after a decision by the jockey to stay on Nimalee over Greysful Glamour. Smith believes it’s a plus to have someone aboard that knows the mare well, admitting Nimalee has evolved differently this preparation.
“She’s a mare that, this time in, has changed her racing patterns a little bit,” Smith said. “She’s racing a lot closer, and that keeps you out of trouble to a certain degree. In big fields it’s an advantage, but Saturday’s field is not that big, so it’s probably not that much of an advantage this time.”
Rachel King aboard Nimalee | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
So You Think she’s good
Nimalee is a straightforward, tough contestant in Smith’s yard.
“She likes to do things her way, as most good mares do,” the trainer said. “She’s got a few little quirks, but generally she’s pretty good. She’s been an immature type of filly as a 2-year-old, and we took our time with her. She needed all that time to furnish into the mare she is now, and she looks a lot different to what she even looked like 12 months ago.”
Smith has looked after Nimalee, giving her every opportunity to win the kinds of races that she has. He has carefully measured her ability to handle the work and the racing, and he puts much of that down to the mare being typical of the So You Think (NZ) progeny Smith has handled – late bloomers with plenty of class.
“Of the So You Thinks that we’ve had, they’ve all looked like they needed plenty of time,” the trainer said. “So it’s easy to make the decision to take your time with them when they look that way. But they’re tough horses. They really have a go in a race.”
The Royal mile
To say that the Randwick mile is time-honoured is probably a tired description, but that’s what it is. Above most courses in the country, Randwick’s mile track is stiff and famous.
Smith said the distance itself was an elusive thing, one that required a horse to be both a sprinter and miler.
“Horses have got to be able to run six-furlong pace over the mile,” he said, “and I believe it’s a true test of speed and stamina.”
“Horses have got to be able to run six-furlong pace over the mile, and I believe it’s a true test of speed and stamina.” - Matthew Smith
He added that the Randwick mile was extra difficult.
“You’ve got to be able to run further than a mile to win a mile at Randwick,” he said. “If you go back over the winners of those big mile handicaps on the course, they’re all pretty good horses most of the time. If you’ve got a horse that can win those races, you’ve got yourself a bloody good horse.”
If Nimalee is such, she’ll prove it on Saturday in the Queen of the Turf. The mare is currently $12 in the betting, fourth choice behind Probabeel, Colette and near million-dollar earner Odeum (Written Tycoon).
