NEWS
Keep the Peace gives trainer Derby-Oaks double
Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010 2:06 PM
by Mike Curry
Keep the Peace seized command with a sweeping bid entering the straight and called upon every ounce of her stamina to hold off late-closing November Rain and Zarzuela to win the $212,460 Wellfield New Zealand Oaks (NZ-G1) on Saturday at Trentham.
The Keeper filly unleashed her winning move on the final turn and opened a clear lead with about 200 meters remaining, but she faced a fight to the finish to earn her first Group 1 win. November Rain and Zarzuela closed in tandem from the outside with ground-devouring strides but ran out of real estate as Keep the Peace crossed the finish line in front by a nose.
Trained by Shaune Ritchie, Keep the Peace completed 2,400 meters (11.93 furlongs) in 2:28.49 on turf rated as good to improve to four wins and three seconds from eight career starts. She entered off a runner-up finish in the Homebush Partnership Masterton Lowland Stakes (NZ-G3) on March 6.
"I knew we had this filly ready for this after her last start, when she finished second. Since that race she has just kept on improving," Ritchie told the New Zealand Herald.
Ritchie won the Telecom New Zealand Derby (NZ-G1) on March 6. Keep the Peace’s Oaks win made Ritchie only the third trainer since the reorganization of the classics to complete the Derby-Oaks double, joining Colin Jillings (1977-‘78 season) and Paul O'Sullivan (1993-’94).
Ridden by Opie Bosson, Keep the Peace was reserved near the back of the 17-horse field as Adaline set the tempo. She got the jump on runner-up November Rain and Zarzuela thanks to a well-timed move by Bosson.
Keep the Peace is out of the Wild Rampage mare Peace Of Mind, a half sister to multiple Hong Kong champion Makarpura Star.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
