Class mare Lazzura has justified her short quote with a comfortable victory in the Golden Pendant (1400m) at Rosehill.
The Chris Waller-trained mare was sent out a dominant favourite and James McDonald gave her every opportunity, settling just behind the speed before making his move approaching the home turn.
With the tempo developing into a sprint home, McDonald moved Lazzura into the race early before the mare’s class came to the fore in the straight.
Verona Rose produced a strong finish under Kerrin McEvoy to take second, but Lazzura had enough in reserve to hold her at bay, with Modella finishing third and Surfin’ Bird fourth.
Lazzura stopped the clock at 1:23.00 and came home in 33.82 seconds for her final 600 metres, which was the fastest closing 600 metres of the Rosehill meeting to that point.
A representative from the Waller stable said Lazzura’s consistency and attitude continued to be among her biggest assets.
“She’s unassuming but she just gets the job done,” he said.
“She’s a lovely horse to work with and tries hard and you know you’re going to get her honest day’s work out of it.”
The stable is now hoping Lazzura can secure a place in The Invitation (1400m) at Randwick.
“Hopefully we’ll get an invitation for The Invitation,” he said.
“She deserves to be running in Group 1s. I guess that race will get there eventually. But prize money, it’s a big deal. So I’d say she’ll head there.”
McDonald was equally pleased with the performance after Lazzura was able to make the most of a favourable position in running.
“Yeah, that was nice. I’m glad that happened,” McDonald said.
“She’s in for a good prep, she’s just a beautiful mare.
“Well placed her whole life and she’s just a good horse.”
McDonald also believes there is further improvement to come as Lazzura progresses through her preparation.
“Yeah, I think so, yeah. She’s got some tougher tasks ahead, but she deserves them,” he said.
The victory continued Lazzura’s strong record at feature level and confirmed she will be a mare to follow as she progresses towards richer assignments during the Sydney spring.
