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Pearl Of Alsace is in foal and entering the final few weeks of her racing career, but trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray hope a return to her favourite track might allow her to cap her CV with a Group One breakthrough.
The six-year-old will line up in Saturday's Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham, where her three previous starts have produced three impressive wins including the Gr.3 Cuddle Stakes (1600m).
Overall, Pearl Of Alsace has won seven of her 17 starts and more than $339,820 in stakes for owner-breeder Sir Peter Vela. The daughter of Tavistock has contested five Group One races, finishing fourth in last year's New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) and third in the Livamol Classic (2040m), followed by sevenths in this year's Breeders' Stakes, Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) and Livamol Classic.
Pearl Of Alsace was served by Rich Hill Stud stallion Proisir after her Livamol run in October, and she showed immediate improvement when she returned to action with a last-start second in the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m) on November 16.
"She was served before that last-start placing and she's now confirmed to be in foal to Proisir," Ritchie said. "She was racing a fraction below her best earlier in the campaign. The freshen up did her good, and we were very pleased with her performance at Tauranga.
"She heads into Saturday's race with some excellent stats. She's unbeaten in three starts at the track, and she's won five of 10 at the 1600m distance as well.
"The only little thing that hasn't fallen perfectly into place for her is that, as an older mare now, she's at her best when there's a little bit of cut out of the track. The likely firm ground at Trentham on Saturday is the only negative we can find in the whole script leading into the race this weekend.
"But she's a Group One placegetter and has always shown us that she had the ability to win one. She'll probably have only three or four more cracks at it before she goes to become a mum, so we'd love nothing more than to nail a win in one of those. Failing that, hopefully we can at least fill up that pedigree page with some more placings at the elite level, setting her up nicely for the next stage of her career."
Pearl Of Alsace will be ridden by Jonathan Riddell and is rated an $11 chance by the TAB. The market is dominated by La Crique at $2.35, with El Vencedor ($6) and One Bold Cat ($9) the others in single figures.
Meanwhile, Ritchie reported that the unbeaten Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1600m) winner Tuxedo is likely to be seen at Ellerslie on either Boxing Day or New Year's Day. The Tivaci gelding is being pointed towards the TAB Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m) on January 25, for which he is rated a $12 chance. Further down the track, he is at $16 for the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) on March 8 and also at $16 for the inaugural NZB Kiwi (1500m) on the same day.
"He's a pretty exciting young horse," Ritchie said. "He's safely in the Karaka Millions field now, so that's the next target that we'll work towards. We're keen for him to have a look around Ellerslie before then, so he'll definitely line up there at some point over the Christmas and New Year carnival. Then we'll carry on into the Karaka Millions. He pulled a little bit the other day, so we're hoping he'll learn to relax a bit better.
"After the Karaka Millions, we'll have a decision to make around whether we go along an Avondale Guineas (Gr.2, 2100m) and Derby path or whether we try to talk to a slot holder and get into the NZB Kiwi. Those will be some nice conversations to have. As always with nice horses, he'll tell us what to do. He's had only two runs, so we're still learning about him and he's learning about us.
"But he has a tremendous amount of talent. I was really impressed with the determination he showed at Otaki to really stretch out and catch a promising filly (Island Life) that wasn't stopping. I think we've got an exciting few months ahead."
