Alabama Lass (Alabama Express) is showing rapid development as a 3-year-old filly, and that was exactly what her owners were after.
She displayed terrific courage to hold on and salute by 0.5l in the Listed HKJC World Pool Sprint Classic at Flemington on Saturday, her first start in Australia. Her record is now an impressive six wins, and three runner-up finishes from nine starts, with New Zealand trainer Ken Kelso saying post-race that she’d go back home for a well-earned spell.
She now has $867,360 in prizemoney, and bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne says a fast start to her on-track career was exactly what her owners had wished for.
“It was for an ownership group that didn’t want to wait for an Oaks filly or wait for something that was going to take a bit of time and get a trip,” he told The Thoroughbred Report.
It was Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock who purchased Alabama Lass with Kelso for just $120,000 from Shadow Hill Thoroughbreds at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Alabama Lass’s ownership group has already made a tidy collective profit for seeking a young precocious talent who they wanted to make an instant impression.
Off the mark with 2-year-old filly Karavas’ dominant victory in the 2023 Moorundi Classic at Murray Bridge, her sire Alabama Express – based at Yulong – followed this up just two weeks later when now-gelding Shangri la Express produced a dominant victory in the Kirkham Plate at Royal Randwick.
This was prior to a big win in the Inglis Golden Gift.
Alabama Express now has four stakes’ winners from 75 runners, with the other three being Gr.1 victor Treasurethe Moment, Discretion Rules and Glasgow Lass.
Alabama Lass’s dam Tabliope (Commands) died in 2022, after winning twice in country NSW and producing six foals, all winners, with the best being Alabama Lass.
“Obviously, we didn’t know about Alabama Express (and his potential as a sire when Kelso wanted to buy Alabama Lass),” Hawthorne said.
Alabama Lass keeps rolling
Kelso believes Alabama Lass is set for an exciting future after he was trackside at Flemington to watch her thrilling victory down the straight in the 1100-metre sprint worth $500,000 on Saturday.
“Stunning. She’s just a very fast filly. She just puts herself there and keeps going. She’s pretty special,” said Kelso post-race, who trains her alongside his wife Bev.
“She tries really hard, and she relaxes early in her races. She’s really fast but she just drops the bit and just lobs along so she doesn’t exert a lot of energy.”
After her spell, more races down the Flemington straight will be on Kelso’s mind in the spring.
“Ken’s always maintained she’s going to be better as she gets older. He’s going to look after her and bring her back next year,” he said.
He reflected back to the buying process for the talented filly.
“I put eight or 10 (yearlings) together for Ken to have a look at that other clients weren’t interested in. He came down on the Sunday after the (2023 Inglis Sprint) race, and that was the one he picked out of the 10.
“So, it was good. Ken picked her out from the types I put in front of him. At $120,000 fitted the budget, too.”
Alabama Lass also showed impressive stamina to finish with a pair of runner-up finishes in the New Zealand 1000 Guineas on November 16, and the Railway Stakes on January 25 – both at Gr.1 level and in soft conditions.
If the tracks were Good, Hawthorne believes she could have won on both occasions.
“I don’t know what Ken thinks as her trainer, but from my point of view she was probably unlucky not to have won both those Gr.1s,” he said.
“Both those Gr.1s were on slow grounds, so on top of the ground they could’ve been different results. That’s just my opinion.”
Alabama Express fast proving himself as a sire
Hawthorne knows Alabama Express well, and he had high hopes for him even before he made the blistering start to his stud career in 2023.
“The other guy I work with, Jonathan Munz (of GSA Bloodstock), he bred Alabama Express,” Hawthorne said.
“Jonathan brought that family out from England 20 years ago. Rekindled Applause was the grandam of Alabama Express 20 years ago at least, I would say.
“And Lago Ovation is the dam of Alabama Express.
“So we know a fair bit about Alabama Express in the first place.
“Even though we didn’t share the ownership of him, we bred him and followed him. And I was expecting him to land some nice stock.”
Written for TTRAusNZ
