Australian Review, By James Harron Bloodstock

This week, the team at James Harron Bloodstock analyses Australia's 4yo/up fillies' and mares' division.

With a few 3-year-old filly stars from last year not quite at their best this preparation, and a few of the older stalwarts tapering off, this division is lacking in numbers in terms of those at the very top. That said, the three picked out here are absolute stars, one of them in particular world-class by any standard.

Any discussion of the leading older mares in Australia has an exceptionally obvious starting point. Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}), expertly prepared by trainer Chris Waller, continues to carry all before her. She is now the winner of her last nine starts, and with six of these at Group 1 level, she is well on the path to all-time stardom. This faultless preparation culminated in a victory in the A$3-million G1 Doncaster H. over 1600 metres at Randwick Apr 2. This was a gruellingly run affair on soft ground, with the initial 600 metres run almost two seconds faster than the other 1600-metre race on the card, the G3 Carbine Club S. To put this into context, Winx, who sat five lengths off the speed in 12th position in the Doncaster, would have been leading the Carbine Club field by around the same margin after three furlongs and would have been around 12 clear on the line.

Possessing a cruising speed and turn of foot that can get her out of the gravest of trouble, Winx looks close to invincible at present. Here's hoping she remains in such world-class form next season, and for reported overseas targets beyond that. What a loss to breeding worldwide her sire Street Cry is.

The form of Winx's Doncaster victory gained a swift boost seven days later at the second day of The Championships, where the second-placed Happy Clapper finished an admirable third in the $4-million G1 Queen Elizabeth S., and third-placed 4-year-old filly Azkadellia (NZ) (Shinko King {Ire}) followed up with a victory in the G1 Coolmore Legacy S. An explosive finisher, Azkadellia was at her brilliant best here, running her final 600 metres in :34.43 seconds on a soft track, a half-second faster than any of her rivals here. Her charismatic style always means that she is somewhat beholden to pace and tactics, and indeed has seemed well-suited to the fact that the soft tracks in Sydney this fortnight have led to the field giving her plenty of room on the inside to make her challenges. Trained by Melbourne-based Ciaron Maher, Azkadellia will reportedly head to the Brisbane carnival to contest the A$1.5-million G1 Stradbroke H. in June. Her sire, Shinko King, was a Japanese-raced Group 1-winning half-brother to English Derby winner Dr Devious (Ire). Azkadellia is from his penultimate crop, he having succumbed to laminitis in 2012, and is one of five Group 1 winners, the best of them being Hong Kong Classic Mile winner Thumbs Up (NZ).

Trained by Kris Lees two hours north of Sydney in Newcastle, Lucia Valentina (NZ) (Savabeel {Aus}) is a brilliant mare who is particularly effective given a fast pace on soft ground. With her optimal conditions, she was a devastating winner of the Queen Elizabeth, busting through from rear at the 200 metres and bounding away from a top-class field. This was another race run at a gruelling tempo–the two pacesetters, Leebaz (Aus) and Awesome Rock (Aus), faded to finish last and second-last. Lucia Valentina produced a huge finish in the circumstances; still 14th of 14 with 400 metres to run, she produced four consecutive sub-12 second furlongs to round out the race–no mean feat in a strongly-run 2000-metre race on soft going. Lucia Valentina's sire, G1 Cox Plate winner Savabeel, is now firmly established at the top of the tree in New Zealand–his NZ$100,000 fee in 2015 was more than three times any other stallion in the country.

Lucia Valentina was one of two Group 1 winners on the day for owner Lib Petagne, also owner of G1 ATC Oaks winner Sofia Rosa (NZ) (Makfi {GB}). Between them they earned A$3,229,000 for their wins–not bad for fillies purchased from the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale for NZ$60,000 and NZ$65,000, respectively–congratulations to their purchaser Bruce Perry.

Most pleasingly, all three of these top-class mares will reportedly race on for another season, giving racegoers the chance to continue to enjoy their great talents.