A rich black-type pedigree was to the fore today at Otaki where the covers came off Reliable Man’s exciting juvenile daughter Librarsi.
The Allan Sharrock-trained Westbury Stud graduate was a stylish debut winner over 1100 metres with rider Craig Grylls sporting breeder Gerry Harvey’s familiar blue and white silks.
Librarsi showed gate speed to make use of an inside barrier and, after sitting on the leader’s quarters to the turn, hit the front 250 metres from home and surged clear to score by 1.8l.
Sharrock said the filly had showed an abundance of ability at home and he was supremely confident she could deliver at the first time of asking.
“She hadn’t trialled but we had a private opinion of her and I expected her to win.”
Librarsi’s performance has now earned her a crack at a late season feature.
“She’ll go forward to the Listed Ryder Stakes and Craig will ride her again,” Sharrock said.
“I really like the filly and the further she goes the better she will be I would think. She is the sort of filly I can see going forward to a race next season like the G3 Eulogy Stakes over a mile.
“She is very straight forward and does everything right. She’s a treasure and easy to train.”
Librarsi is a daughter of the winning General Nediym mare Tennessee Love who is a half-sister to Aloha, successful in an edition of the G1 Coolmore Classic. She is also the dam of the multiple Group 2 winner and Group 1 placegetter Libertini.
The immediate pedigree also features the G1 Champagne Stakes winner Seabrook and the G2 Moonee Valley Fillies’ Classic winner My Emotion.
The dam Tennessee Love produced an El Roca filly last season before visiting Telperion.
Meanwhile, all roads lead to the G1 Tarzino Trophy for Swiss Ace’s gifted daughter Jodelin Gal.
Trainer Carl Henderson has identified the Hawke’s Bay spring feature as the ideal target for his five-year-old and a last-start victory at Hastings has already given her a winning experience on the Hastings track.
“The long-range plan is the Tarzino because she will be fit and hard and some of the other ones might be a bit vulnerable,” the Te Awamutu-based conditioner said.
“I don’t know what will be about this year, there’s no Melody Belle or Avantage so if we can sneak a place in the Tarzino then Group 1 form on her pedigree page would be great. That’s our main aim, all going well.
“That was the reason we went to Hastings the other day as she had never been too far from home before.
“It was only a day trip, but it was a fair old float trip and it was perfect so I’m happy where we’re at.”
In the meantime, Henderson’s immediate focus with Jodelin Girl is on Saturday’s Listed Team Wealleans Tauranga Classic ITM/GIB Sprinters’ Winter Championship Final.
“She’ll head to Tauranga and she’s come through her last run huge, she was better after the race than before it.
“I’m quite excited about the weekend to be honest. She is going to drop a couple of kilos, she had 59.5kg the other week so the conditions of the race suit.
“The trip away to Hastings and the run under her belt has improved her.”
Henderson will plot a light path with Jodelin Girl, who has won six of her 15 starts, toward her main aim.
“I might send her into the Tarzino a little bit fresh, the Foxbridge Plate (Gr.2, 1200m) is the normal lead-up race but she doesn’t go any good at Te Rapa,” he said.
“I’d be reluctant to go there, she just doesn’t like the place for some reason.
“She is entered for a $60,000 race at Ruakaka in July, but she would get quite a bit of weight and it’s not a black-type race so there’s really no point in going there.
“It all revolves around stakes race for her now.”
Westbury Stud stallion Swiss Ace will also be represented in the Tauranga Classic by the Ralph Manning-trained Fonteyn while associate sire El Roca has a live chance in Ima Roca Bee.
The former has won two of her last three starts while Karyn McQuade’s Ima Roca Bee, who won the Listed Ryder Stakes last season, was fourth when resuming following a spell at Waverley and can be expected to strip fitter for that outing.