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Former Manawatu mare Kelly Coe continued a golden run for her connections with a $28 upset victory in Saturday’s Gr.3 J Swap Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa.
Kelly Coe is trained by Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, who racked up a career-best 66 winners last season and are setting a red-hot pace so far in 2024-25. Their 31 wins put them in second on the national premiership, and they have tasted black-type success with Grail Seeker in the Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m), Checkmate in the Listed Armacup 3YO Stakes (1500m), Sethito in the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) and now Kelly Coe.
The Proisir mare races in the red and white colours of her owner-breeders Humphrey and Fiona O'Leary, who saw those same silks carried to Group One glory by Ladies Man in last Saturday's TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham.
"They're pretty famous colours, and it's great to have them racing out of Wexford Stables with this mare," O'Sullivan said. "They just keep winning."
Kelly Coe has spent most of her career in the Awapuni stable of Ashley Meadows, for whom she won five of her 35 starts including last year's Listed Wanganui Cup (2040m). She also placed in the Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2000m) and Gr.3 Manawatu Breeders' Stakes (2000m), and she ran sixth in the Gr.1 Zabeel Classic (2000m).
All of those previous career highlights came over significantly longer distances than the 1400m of Saturday's J Swap Sprint, but Kelly Coe had resumed with an eye-catching finish from second-last among a 16-horse field in the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) in October. That was the seven-year-old's first start for O'Sullivan and Scott, who later set their sights on Saturday's $120,000 feature over the same course and distance.
Kelly Coe drew the inside gate in the J Swap Sprint and was given a dream run in fourth spot by in-form jockey Masa Hashizume. She loomed on the outside of the front-running Mercurial after rounding the home turn, and that pair went to war through the final 250m.
Group One winner Mercurial fought for all he was worth under his 59kg topweight, but Kelly Coe kept coming and gradually got the upper hand. She pipped him by a head at the finish line, with Witz End another length and a quarter away in third. The 1400m were run in a quick 1:21.90.
"We just had a beautiful run from gate one," Hashizume said. "I knew Opie's horse (Mercurial) was going to kick on the corner. I got up next to him quite easily in the straight, but he was hard to pass. We finally got there on the line, so I'm very happy. She'll definitely take a lot of improvement from this as well."
Kelly Coe has now had 37 starts for seven wins, nine placings and $293,000 in stakes.
O'Sullivan admitted that Saturday's performance took the Wexford team by surprise.
"The owners sent her up to us to train this season, so it's really nice to win a race like this with her," he said. "We probably didn't expect her to settle in such a handy position and then finish it off like that. We actually thought she might be a better chance in a race like the Rich Hill Mile (Gr.2, 1600m) in a couple of weeks than she was today, but it's a great result. Who knows, we could still carry on into something like the Rich Hill now. But we're very happy to get this result today."
Kelly Coe holds nominations for the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) at Trentham on January 11 and the Gr.1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) back at Te Rapa on February 8.
One of 15 individual stakes winners for Rich Hill Stud stallion Proisir, Kelly Coe is out of the Fasliyev mare Floiridita, who herself won two races and placed in the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m). The O'Learys paid just $3,500 to buy Floridita from the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock National Broodmare Sale at Karaka.
