Amanpour led from start to finish to record a most impressive victory in the 2015 Queen Of The Turf Stakes at Royal Randwick this afternoon.
Amanpour produced the best performance of her racing career to date to win the 2015 Queen Of The Turf Stakes. Photo by: Steve Hart
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy elected to ride Amanpour aggressively in the early stages of the Queen Of The Turf Stakes and she took up the running from Diademe, while Catkins was settled in a lovely position behind the leading pair.
Diademe was one of the first horses beaten, but Amanpour responded extremely well when asked for an extra effort and ran away from Catkins and a very brave Noble Protector to record a maiden win at the highest level of racing.
McEvoy said that Amanpour record at distances greater than a mile gave him the confidence he needed to press forward in the early stages of the race and he was thrilled with the turn-of-foot shown by the Northern Meteor mare in the final stages of the race.
“I got out nice and clean and I just wanted to ride a nice bold race,” McEvoy said.
“She has won over further than the mile, she likes the ground, so I wanted to be right up there and she gave me a great kick turning for home.
“She has delighted me today and she has done a fantastic job.
“She was third-up today, Gai has been wrapped with her and she ran a really credible race behind Catkins last time in a set weights race and we were better suited today out to the mile on this ground.
“It is a real big buzz to we here in a big feature.”
Gai Waterhouse was typically bullish about her chances heading into the Queen Of The Turf Stakes and she was clearly delighted that Amanpour was able to deliver her a second straight win in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes.
Waterhouse said that Amanpour was deserving of a feature race win after finishing in the placings in races like the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) and Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) and she was quick to praise the polish ride of Kerrin McEvoy.
“I am really excited because she is such a tough mare,” Waterhouse said.
“I took her down to Melbourne last year and she just was a bridesmaid on a couple of occasions.
“He rode her absolutely sensationally and he just got her into a rhythm.”
Noble Protector was caught wide throughout the Queen Of The Turf Stakes, but was able to work home strongly to finish third, while Catkins produced a typically game effort to finish second and is still chasing an elusive win at Group 1 level.
