Kiwi stars shoot for Melbourne sprint spoils
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • September 4th, 2025 11:42 AM • 4 min read
New Zealand raiders have been a force to be reckoned with in some of Melbourne’s biggest sprints in recent seasons, and the Kiwi-trained pair of Alabama Lass and La Dorada will try to continue that trend in Saturday’s Gr. 1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley.
Roch ‘N’ Horse got the golden run underway with her triumphs in the Newmarket Handicap and Champions Sprint at Flemington in 2022, and then Te Akau Racing’s Hall of Fame inductee Imperatriz added an extraordinary sequence of Group One successes in the 2023 and 2024 William Reid Stakes, 2023 Moir Stakes, 2023 Manikato Stakes, 2023 Champions Sprint and 2024 Lightning Stakes.
Melbourne is already familiar territory for Alabama Lass, who was purchased by her co-trainer Ken Kelso for A$120,000 from the Inglis Premier Sale there in March of 2023. She quickly became a star speedster in her new homeland, winning five of her eight New Zealand starts including the Gr. 2 Soliloquy Stakes, Gr. 3 King’s Plate and Gr. 3 Gold Trail Stakes, and finishing second in the Gr. 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas, Gr. 1 Sistema Railway and Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes.
Ken and Bev Kelso sent Alabama Lass back across the Tasman in March, where she again showcased her brilliance with a slick win in the A$500,000 Listed Moomba Plate at Flemington. That gave the Matamata trainers confidence to look to Melbourne when mapping out the Alabama Express mare’s spring campaign.
“She won very well there in the autumn, and there’s nothing much for her in New Zealand in the spring,” Kelso told RaceForm. “It’s quite a poor programme for sprinters on this side of Christmas.
“So we’ll roll the dice on Saturday. If we can snag some Group One form over there, it’ll enhance her pedigree enormously. If she performs on Saturday, we’ll stay over there for races like the Manikato. Otherwise we’ll bring her home, give her a spell and set her for the summer sprints in New Zealand.”
Kelso has been pleased with the four-year-old’s spring build-up.
“Her trial was excellent and she’s progressed very well from there,” he said. “Opie Bosson galloped her this (Tuesday) morning and gave us the thumbs up. He was very impressed with her. She looks great.
“But it’s not going to be easy on Saturday. It’s always a challenge for three-year-olds going into their four-year-old seasons at weight-for-age, and it’s a particularly strong race. In previous years they’ve often had eight to 10 runners, but it’s a capacity field this year. It’s an enormous task, but we’re going in with no excuses and we’ll see if she’s up to it.
“She flies over on Wednesday, and I’ll be in Melbourne from Friday to Sunday.”
Alabama Lass will be ridden by Craig Williams, who was in the saddle for her Flemington success in the autumn.
Imperatriz gave Te Akau trainer Mark Walker an in-depth understanding of the top echelon of short-course racing in Melbourne, but he is unsure what to expect from La Dorada on Saturday.
The Super Seth filly was one of the best two-year-olds in New Zealand last season, winning four of her five starts including the Gr. 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes, the Gr. 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and the Karaka Millions 2YO.
“She’s coming up nicely, but it’s certainly a strong field on Saturday,” Walker said. “Group Ones in Australia are always tough.
“The reason we’re running her here is that she carries only 50 kilograms under weight-for-age conditions. If she ran in the three-year-old fillies’ race on the same day, she’d have a Group One penalty and would carry 59 and a half.
“How she goes on Saturday will determine what we do with her next. She’s forward enough, but it’s just a question of whether they might go a bit quick for her over 1000 metres.”
