Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Central Districts mare Khanshe (Mongolian Khan) put an unlucky effort at her last start well behind her when she produced a strong finishing burst to claim her biggest career victory, the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The Fraser Auret-prepared five-year-old had caught the eye as one of very few horses to make up ground in the Trentham home straight in her last start where she finished fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) last month.
With her normal racing pattern of dropping back early in her races before finding the line, she was favoured to have a strong chance in the Te Rapa feature with only nine race rivals and a likely strong pace up front in the offing.
What couldn’t be predicted was the chaotic start to the contest where Privy Garden stayed in the barriers but in doing so affected the chances of Monologue, who was tardily away after being knocked sideways by a barrier handler who had been contacted by Privy Garden being fractious as the gates opened.
That left the remaining eight runners strung out in a line as Electron set up a solid pace in front of favourite Qali Al Farrasha, with Khanshe and rider Matthew Cameron back in last position alongside Lotus.
Electron began to feel the pinch at the 600m as Qali Al Farrasha moved alongside her and took over comfortably shortly after straightening.
Cameron sent Khanshe through a gap one off the fence and set out after Qali Al Farrasha who was putting up a tenacious fight, however, the daughter of Mongolian Khan got the upper hand in the closing stages to win moving away by a long neck, with Lotus closing late for third.
Auret had expressed confidence before the race and was suitably proud of the effort by his charge, despite her giving him heart palpitations when searching for clear running in the straight.
“I wasn’t feeling very well (in the run home),” Auret said.
“She is a little bit one dimensional and because of that she can get in a little bit of trouble.
“She has just got such a will to win and a lovely turn of foot, so it was phenomenal.
“There were some very good horses in that field so to finish it off like that was so good.
“It’s her third stakes win after just 20 starts so there is a lot to look forward to as winning over 2000m opens up so many doors for her.
“She has been up a long time so we might pull stumps now and look after her for another campaign later in the year.”
Cameron was thankful for getting the luck he required in the home straight.
“It was a little bit awkward and I had to go to the fence when I didn’t really want to,” he said.
“She is a mare that likes to roll into it, but I knew she is a top mare with a good turn of foot.
“Luckily the splits came and she got through the gap and came home well.
“She is right up there and is probably still another year away.”
Following the race there was a Stewards inquiry launched into the start with both Privy Garden and Monologue deemed late scratchings.
Raced by the estate of the late Rick Orr, who also bred her, Khanshe is out of the unraced O’Reilly mare Folies Bergere who is a daughter of stakes winning sprinter Dashing Donna who finished runner-up in the 2009 Gr.1 Railway Stakes (1200m).
She has now won six of her twenty starts, with three of those at stakes level and more than $359,000 in prizemoney.
Meanwhile, Auret is now looking forward to watching his homebred gelding Ka Ying Rising, the world’s best sprinter, shoot for his 20th straight win when he contests the Gr.1 Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
