Kiwi’s Valley Prowess is Crystal clear

It wasn’t the race she was initially targeted at, but Prowess got her win at The Valley on Cox Plate when she won an eventful $300,000 Group 2 Crystal Mile.

The Roger James and Robert Wellwood-trained mare entered the season one of the favourites for the Cox Plate, but a minor issue put that $5 million Group 1 off the agenda before her campaign even started.

The four-year-old got her campaign back on track and finished second in the Group 3 Taranaki Breeders Stakes (1400m) at Hawera first-up before confirming her liking for The Valley circuit in Saturday’s 1600-metre event.

James won the 2012 Crystal Mile with Silent Achiever, who returned to finish third in the 2014 Cox Plate and Wellwood confirmed Prowess would be prepared to try and go two spots better next year.

“Ideally we would have like to have been running in the Cox Plate, but she just had a few little niggles,” he said.

“They weren’t major but just stopped her natural improvement at times.

“It’ll be terrific to be here next year going 440 metres further.”

The Crystal Mile win was the eighth from 11 starts for the daughter of Proisir, who has filled a minor placing at her other three starts.

A winner of the Bonecrusher Stakes (2050m) and Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Group 1 level earlier this year, Prowess benefitted from a cosy run and clear passage to be presented at the right time by Mark Zahra.

The $4.80 chance scored a short-neck from the unlucky $2.50 bookmakers favourite Antino, who was held up for a run until well into the short The Valley straight, with leader Tuvalu ($2.70) boxing on for third, just a long-head away.

“There’s still a lot of improvement to come, when I got the gap I thought she’d scoot away but I reckon she’s still a bit ring-rusty this prep and I reckon she’ll improve off that,” Zahra said.

That next start will be at Flemington on November 11 in the $3 million Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m).