Lara Antipova set for Australian debut
She won’t have top billing at her first three-year-old race at Caulfield this Saturday, but the unbeaten New Zealand filly Lara Antipova (Russian Revolution) may soon demand the honour if she returns as is hoped in the Gr.3 Quezette Stakes (1100m).
Wearing the tangerine and white colours of Te Akau Racing and Fortuna Racing’s John Galvin, Lara Antipova cost $100,000 at the Gold Coast sales and has already earned nearly $500,000 from her four New Zealand starts to date. But it is not her prizemoney earnings that has owners in Australia fearful of her presence.
Lara Antipova is unbeaten in four runs and indeed has been untroubled in all her starts which have already netted her a Gr.1 and two Gr.2s.
She made her debut in an 1150-metre juvenile maiden in early December last year at Te Aroha on a good track and won by eight lengths at odds of $1.80.
Two weeks later, she stepped to Gr.2 company at Trentham over 1100 metres in slow conditions and gapped her rivals by 4.5 lengths at the quote of just $1.20. She was then afforded a short break before resuming in February at Gr.2 level over 1200 metres at Matamata where she again delivered a comprehensive performance to win by 3.3 lengths at $1.20.
The Gr.1 Sistema (1200m) was next in March and Lara Antipova was sent out at $1.10 and never looked threatened, ultimately winning by nearly two lengths.
Her trainer Mark Walker then announced she would spell and be given an Australian spring campaign. Her preparation has been tailored around the fillies’ sprinting stakes races this spring, but much depends on what she shows at her first three-year-old start.
A major concern for her Australian rivals is that genetic testing has Lara Antipova down as more a miler than a sprinter and so a race like the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) might end up being her major spring aim.
Walker has combined many times with Te Akau Racing to win big races in Australia with the likes of super sprinting mare Imperatriz.
By Russian Revolution out of Myboycharlie mare Artistic Lass, Lara Antipova is named after a central character in the multi-award winning 1965 film Doctor Zhivago.
