Katie Lee Secures Fillies' Title
- Saturday, 13 February 2010 03:59
Katie Lee secured the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year title with a gutsy victory in the Group Two Sir Tristram Classic at Te Rapa in Hamilton.
Katie Lee settled close to the pace in Saturday's 2000m feature for stand-in jockey Mark Du Plessis and shot clear soon after turning for home but had to dig deep to hold out the fast-finishing November Rain by a short neck.
The win took Katie Lee to 38 points in the Filly of the Year series, 25 points clear of second-placed Keep The Peace with only 18 points available from the remaining two races.
It was the third victory in the fillies series for Katie Lee. Earlier she won the Group One 1000 Guineas and the Group Two Eight Carat Classic.
She also won the Group One 2000 Guineas at Riccarton against the colts and geldings.
The Graeme Rogerson-trained Katie Lee is owned by the race's sponsor, Sir Patrick Hogan, who paid $NZ340,000 for the Hallmark Stud-bred filly at the Karaka Yearling Sales in 2008.
Sir Patrick now has to decide whether to allow Katie Lee to take on the males again in the $NZ2.2 million New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on March 6.
He said he wanted to make sure the filly's blood test readings and her manner was still the same before choosing to head to the Derby.
November Rain may have beaten Katie Lee had she not run greenly in the straight.
