Lizzie Jelfs is hoping to get a group 2 with Kristilli in the Percy Sykes Stakes at Randwick on SaturdayCredit: Ashlea Brennan
Mounting yard expert Lizzie Jelfs spotted Kristilli at trackwork during its first preparation and broke her rules to add the Hellbent filly to her team at Annabel Neasham’s stable.
Jelfs started a syndicating business last year where she buys reasonably priced horses to race, but Kristilli wasn’t one she bought at the sales.
“I was at trackwork one morning watching a few of mine go around, and Annabel had left for trials or something,” Jelfs explained.
“These yearlings in their first prep went past and I said to Annabel’s staff, “what’s that!” This filly just stood out and I fell in love with her. It was Kristilli. They told me there was still a fair bit left to sell in her, so I did a deal to sell the rest of her. She actually comes from the Inglis Classic Sale and I didn’t buy anything there. I saw her and liked her but I had few horses already and was being careful.
“But this year I went back to the Classic to buy her sister and she was the reason I went to the sale.”
The bloodstock world is an imperfect and tough but Jelfs’ eye could once again be proven right in the Percy Sykes Stakes if Kristilli can become a group 2 winner at only her second start.
She got home hard from back in the field on the Kensington track to run second to Kimochi on debut and has continued to go forward, cementing her to start in the Percy Sykes.
“Annabel has been patient with her because she has always shown something, but we didn’t think we would get to this race,” Jelfs said. “The first run was that of a filly looking for further and, with more pressure in this race, I think she should be suited.
“She is going to be a really good three-year-old, but to have a filly like her so early on for Racing With Lizzie is great.
“It is always good to have a horse that shows you are doing the right thing. If she can run well on Saturday, there is still some left in her sister, so it should be easy to sell.”
Tulloch Lodge plays to $10 million European Queen’s strengths
Queen Of The Turf favourite Alcohol Free brings blue chip European form and a price tag to match as she arrives in Australia, but for Tulloch Lodge it was a case of finding the right race for Yulong’s $10 million mare at The Championships.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have prepared Alcohol Free since she was sold in England in December and it played a part in her running in Saturday’s Queen Of The Turf rather than a TJ Smith or All Aged Stakes in the autumn.
“You try not to think about the price too much,” Bott said. “We trained the horse and place her to her strengths and she does have some of the best mile form in Europe.
“I don’t think we have never seen a Sussex Stakes out here.
“With the set-up we have had with her coming out from Europe, this was the right race for her in the autumn because she did a lot of her grounding on the gallops over there.”
The lure of The Everest is there for Alcohol Free with Yulong holding a slot and the most recent of her four group 1 wins coming in the July Cup.
But she has won a Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on a very heavy track and a Sussex Stakes at the mile, which Alcohol Free will be tested at Randwick on Saturday. She has been well-backed at $3.50 in the Queen Of The Turf, but Bott warned she will improve for the spring.
“She has a profile for everyone to see and it will be exciting to see her kick off. However, there is more improvement down the track with her,” Bott said. “It would be nice to see win another group 1 and she will run well.”
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