Remember Samantha Miss?
The Redoute’s Choice mare who raced for trainer Kris Lees in the orange colours with the black maltese cross and who won the Champagne Stakes (beating Sebring), the Flight Stakes (beating Portillo) and the Crown Oaks at Flemington (beating Miss Scarlatti) – all Group 1 wins – as well saluting in the Silver Shadow, the Furious Stakes and the Tea Rose!
Yes, that’s the one.
Samantha Miss banked 1.7 million in prize-money from her relatively brief career of only twelve starts which is a pretty useful return when you consider we are talking about races run and won in 2008.
The mare is now eighteen years old and those who have gone through Friday’s racebook for Birdsville might have spotted her name in the breeding of horse number six in race five – the Corey and Kylie Geran trained Sammy.
Sammy is up at Birdsville with two other runners from the Geran team looking to improve on his four wins to date when he tackles an Open Handicap over 1200m.
Sammy transferred from the Kris Lees stable, where he scored three of his wins, in late 2022 and he was the model of consistency in the first three of the five runs he had for the Geran stable.
In those runs he finished third, first, third and then second … with that runner-up finish coming in town at Eagle Farm in March.
His last two unplaced starts have not been as encouraging, although it should be noted that one of those again was at Eagle Farm facing a level of competition far removed from that which he will encounter at Birdsville on Friday where he currently is second favourite at $3.30 (behind the $2.60) main fancy, The General.
Sammy will be first-up following close to a five month break from race action. The six-year-old has a first-up record of one win and four minor placings from six first-up efforts.
