Exciting three-year-old filly Grocer’s Girl will take her place in Saturday’s Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas at Riccarton.
Trained by Tony Pike in Cambridge, Grocer’s Girl showed plenty of ability during her two-year-old season, producing three strong performances included a stakes placing.
She has continued to progress this spring, recording two consecutive runner-up finishes over 1400m. Now fourth-up with three solid runs under her belt, the daughter of Tarzino should relish the step up to a mile in Saturday’s Group 1 contest with the blinkers going on. She has drawn favourably in barrier 4 of 15, with Matt Cartwright booked to take the ride.
Trainer Tony Pike was delighted with her final piece of work on Tuesday morning, where she worked over 1000m in company.
“She relaxed beautifully with the blinkers on this morning and quickened up very well in the straight. I thought it was an excellent piece of work and couldn’t be happier with the way she’s pulled up.
She’ll have a light trot and canter on Thursday and Friday once she gets to Christchurch. I’m really pleased with her condition heading down there.”
The filly arrived safely in Christchurch on Wednesday morning, with the team reporting that she travelled exceptionally well and was straight into her feed upon arrival.
With a favourable barrier draw and the step up in distance expected to play to her strengths, Saturday presents an exciting opportunity for the filly to add a Group 1 performance to her record.