On Track 2024 (DRAFT 2)Pages AT - Flipbook - Page 10
The Queen
OF THE VALLEY
BACK TO DEFEND
HER TRIPLE CROWN
By Ben Caluzzi
Media & Content Executive -Racing
When we think of some of the greatest horses New
Zealand juggernaut Te Akau Racing have had in their
keeping, 14-time Group 1 winning champion Melody
Belle, 2019 Ladbrokes Cox Plate placegetter Te Akau
Shark and Savabeel mare Probabeel are three that come
to mind. But over the past few years, another superstar
has emerged in the famous tangerine silks – Imperatriz.
By the all-conquering sprinting sire I Am Invincible,
Imperatriz was bought for $360,000 by Te Akau Racing
principle David Ellis at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold
Coast Yearling Sale. Following her last start runnerup effort in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap, her
prizemoney tally now ticked over the $6 million mark.
In 2023 Imperatriz became the first horse in our
history to complete The Valley Sprints Triple Crown,
winning all three Group 1 races in one year. She won
her first Australian race in the 3 Point Motors William
Reid Stakes, coming from well back in the field to win
impressively. She returned later in the year and won
the Mittys McEwen Stakes in breathtaking fashion
breaking the 1000-metre track record, before taking
out both Group 1 Spring features, each very different
from another. She chased down the front division
to win in the Charter Keck Cramer Moir Stakes,
then showed exceptional tactical versatility to lead
all the way in the Ladbrokes Manikato Stakes.
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