Shane McNally talks to connections about the Aussie mare who commanded global attention with an extraordinary front-running display in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April
Australia: By the time they’d gone 800 metres (four furlongs) in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the G1 highlight of the two-day Championships at Randwick in April, Australian racegoers were witnessing something they’d never seen before.
Sure, some older punters will nostalgically exaggerate the deeds of daring front-runners Pirate Byrd and Scotch And Dry from the 1960s and 70s, while others may confuse the way the immortal Vo Rogue raced.
But this was different; it was stunning. Pride Of Jenni was leading a top-class weight-for-age field by a margin that matched the amount of improvement she had made in just six months – and the lead was extending.
Frankly, it was nothing short of astonishing. At the halfway mark of the 2000m (1m2f) contest, expat Irish jockey Declan Bates had Pride Of Jenni cruising 38 lengths in front. She was still more than 25 lengths ahead turning for home, before coasting to the line 6½ lengths clear of seriously talented rivals such as Via Sistina and Mr Brightside without ever being threatened.
As spectacular as it was unexpected, the performance was enough to catapult Pride Of Jenni to #2 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings – and enough to command worldwide attention with eyebrows raised across the globe a long way from Sydney.
But where did this come from? Not merely on the day itself, when armchair experts blamed jockeys for not pushing their backmarkers to keep up – but from 18 months earlier, when Pride Of Jenni was being soundly beaten at double-figure odds in G2 mares’ races.
Change of environment
Pride Of Jenni’s transformation started with a change of training environment. Owner Tony Ottobre, who runs a stud farm on the lush Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, where the mare stays between campaigns, recognised that former trainers David Brideoake and Symon Wilde had done their best, but the sometimes-wayward mare named in memory of his late daughter Jennifer needed a change of scenery.
“I really loved what I saw of her,” says Ottobre, recalling his purchase of Pride Of Jenni as a yearling. “I thought she had a bit of quality about her, but not in my wildest dreams did I think she’d be this good.
“It’s a hard thing to change trainers because they’re good at their job, but she had a couple of little quirks that we had to try and iron out, and if it wasn’t working with her previous trainers I wanted to somehow bring out the best in her. The horse comes first.”
Ottobre went to master trainer Ciaron Maher – then still training in partnership with David Eustace – who had won the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate with different horses in different years. He asked Maher if he would be interested in taking over Pride Of Jenni’s preparation and Maher was happy to oblige, thinking he was getting a good type who might win a G1 mares’ race if everything fell into place.
But how did Maher turn the six-year-old daughter of Pride Of Dubai into a racing sensation? Did he see anything that indicated she was hiding immense ability?
“The short answer is no, I didn’t think she’d turn into the horse she’s become,” Maher says. “I knew she was quite hard on herself, both in racing style and her antics on the training track – she was a bit of a terror on the track as well as on racedays.
Different dimension
“She is one of the most intriguing horses I’ve had because she brings that different dimension to each race. To some degree, it wouldn’t have mattered who trained her, it was a sense of timing. Tony was always of the view that she could run some fast sectionals, but if you looked at her form she could only turn in a really good run once a prep. It would take a fair bit out of her, and her form would drop off.
“But we’ve been patient and she’s furnished and mentally matured and become a more seasoned racehorse. It’s a combination of things that have helped her turn into this horse.”
Ottobre points to the personal touch as part of the reason for Pride Of Jenni’s improvement, citing positive changes in the mare’s character that have developed since moving to her new surroundings.
“Her strapper Samantha Waters took on Pride Of Jenni the moment she arrived at the stables,” he explains. “The love and attention she gave the mare was remarkable and she responded accordingly. Since then, she hasn’t needed to have a stallion chain, the ear muffs are gone, and she no longer needs the clerk of the course to lead her to the start.”
Maher, who trains at multiple locations including the Victorian regional centres of Ballarat and Cranbourne as well as Warwick Farm in Sydney, noticed improvement when the mare was runner-up to Espiona in the G1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill in March 2023, but she followed that with a couple of poor Randwick runs.
Pride Of Jenni turned in another good effort in a G2 at Moonee Valley in September on her second start after a break, but was unimpressive next time in the G1 Toorak Handicap at Caulfield. Then it all came together.
Out of nowhere
Out of nowhere, she recorded an all-the-way win against Australia’s best mares in the G1 Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington on Victoria Derby day. And if that surprised the Australian audience, what happened a week later in the G1 Champions Mile at Flemington made the whole racing world sit up and take notice. She was ignored in the betting against elite weight-for-age horses such as Mr Brightside, Alligator Blood and Fangirl, but she won easing down.
That victory changed everything. Pride Of Jenni had beaten three of the best milers in the country on a track where leading all the way over a mile is rarely achieved. Moreover, this breakout performance let her trainer know that she was tougher than was first thought. Three months later, everything went to plan for her autumn campaign, starting with a short-head defeat in the G1 Orr Stakes at Caulfield.
“First up in the Orr, it took Mr Brightside to beat her and that was a remarkable run,” Maher recalls. “I expected her to drop back to around fourth when he headed her, but she kept finding more and it took a champion to beat her, and only narrowly. It showed me that, even when you think she’s beaten, she never gives up.
“I’ve never been as confident going to the races as I was when she won the All-Star Mile on her next start,” he adds of the A$5m ($3.31m/£2.65m) feature. “There was a certain thrill in expecting to win, seeing the ride she got in the Mile, and getting the prize. That was as good as it gets.”
Dazzling performance
Pride Of Jenni followed the All-Star Mile win with a brave second in the Australian Cup over two extra furlongs before her dazzling performance in the Queen Elizabeth. In fact, Maher believes being beaten in the Australian Cup probably enhanced her chances at Randwick.
“I said to Tony when she got beaten in the Australian Cup that the best thing about that was the horse that beat her [Cascadian] came from last,” he says. “I said, ‘it’ll be great to see them happy to sit last the next time she runs’. And that’s how it worked out. Knowing the horse, I thought the race was over coming to the turn.”
Maher also recognises that jockey Declan Bates (right) has been crucial to the mare’s performances. “Declan is a very level, confident rider,” he says. “He’s a bit like [fellow expat Irish rider] Johnny Allen. He came over and worked hard and got the rewards. He’s a very strong rider who can ride at any weight and he knows Pride Of Jenni, he has great faith in the mare.”
Despite being ante-post favourite for Australia’s time-honoured championship race, the Cox Plate on October 26, Pride Of Jenni may bypass the Moonee Valley showpiece in favour of a rich Sydney target. Maher believes she is better at a mile than over ten furlongs and is planning her spring campaign around the G1 King Charles III Stakes (formerly the George Main) over the mile at Randwick a week before the Plate.
“It’s doable to run in both, but it’s a tough ask for the mare,” says Maher, and Ottobre is in full agreement with his trainer’s plan.
“Even though I love the Cox Plate, being from Victoria, New South Wales has come up with the $5 million King Charles and I think she’s dynamite at a mile,” says Ottobre. “She started to feel the strain at the end of the ten furlongs of the Queen Elizabeth, but I know she can sprint the mile.
Inner strength
“Last year she backed up seven days after winning a G1 to win another, so she has shown she can do it. She has an inner strength, she’s very thick-boned and strong. There’s no reason she can’t run in both races, but she won’t back up in the Cox Plate unless she’s 100 per cent.”
Pride Of Jenni is the latest in a steady run of champion Australian-trained mares captivating racegoers with their extended careers while brilliant colts are being retired before their four-year-old seasons. Considering that she didn’t hit her peak until the age of six, Maher and Ottobre have good news for her growing army of fans: there is no plan to retire her.
“I would prefer to race her until she doesn’t want to race any more,” says Ottobre, and Maher is thrilled by the prospect of another successful campaign with the mighty mare.
“She won’t be going to stud next year,” says the trainer emphatically. “As with any mare, it’s a year-by-year situation, but she seems very keen to race on - she could race to the age of eight. It really depends on her.”
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