Early-season standouts set for Sunline Vase clash
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • September 19th, 2025 8:30 AM • 4 min read
There have been two Group races for three-year-olds so far this season, and the winners of those two events will head to Ellerslie for a fascinating clash in Saturday’s Gr. 3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Sunline Vase.
Tajana was the first member of the 2025-26 crop of three-year-old fillies to make an early-season statement, powering home from well off the pace to take out the Gr. 3 Northland Breeders’ Stakes at Ruakaka on August 16.
That performance earned Tajana $5 favouritism in the TAB’s fixed-odds market for the Gr. 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas in November, but her reign was short-lived.
Lollapalooza soared to the top of the market at $3.20 with a spectacular come-from-behind performance in the Gr. 3 Gold Trail Stakes at Ellerslie on September 6.
Those two fillies will meet in Saturday’s Sunline Vase – a race that was formerly run as a New Zealand Oaks lead-up over 2100 metres in early March, but is now a 1400-metre spring stepping stone towards the 1000 Guineas. The connections of both Lollapalooza and Tajana expect this weekend’s step up in distance to suit their fillies.
“That win in the Gold Trail Stakes was quite a special performance,” said Graham Richardson, who trains Lollapalooza in partnership with Rogan Norvall. “It was really, really good.
“We’ve been pretty happy with her since that race as well. My one concern is that it’s a bit of a tight turnaround, being only two weeks since the Gold Trail. That’s not easy for an inexperienced three-year-old filly like her, and I might have preferred her to have another week. But apart from that, everything’s going to plan. The way she’s been finishing her races off, the step up from 1200 metres should only help her.”
Tajana’s co-trainer Shaune Ritchie feels the same way about his Darci Brahma filly, who was a Group One placegetter over 1400 metres in last season’s Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes.
“We’ve seen her perform over 1400 metres with that Group One placing last season, and for her to kick off her three-year-old campaign with a Group Three win over 1200 metres was fantastic,” Ritchie said. “We wanted to boost her pedigree page with a black-type win, and now that we’ve done that, it’s full steam ahead to the 1000 Guineas.
“She had a quiet trial at Ellerslie the other day (September 9) that I would describe as a handbrake trial. She was never asked to do anything and it was just a lovely day out.
“I think one of the benefits from that is that when she heads back to Ellerslie again this weekend, she might think it’s another cruisy trip up there for an easy gallop. She doesn’t know she’s going up there to race against this hot field of three-year-old fillies.
“We’re happy with her. She probably won’t be at her ultimate best until she goes up over a mile and maybe even further than that, but we’re concentrating on the 1000 Guineas for now and this is an important step in that direction.”
