22 Sep 2024Luberon earned a gold medal for bravery following her impressive return to competition at Ellerslie.
Our game daughter of Embellish was making her first appearance since January, but trainer Lance Noble presented her in terrific order to resume in Rating 75 company over 1200 metres.
However, Luberon had no favours in the running and was caught three wide without cover from an outside barrier.
She dug deep under her 58.5kg to answer every call from rider Warren Kennedy in the straight to get in the deciding stride.
“That was a very good first-up performance, she’s always shown a lot of ability, and we thought she had come back in good order this time in,” Noble said.
“For her to show the ticker that she did, find the line so strongly and get the win, it was a very pleasing way to start her season.”
Noble said there were not specific targets in mind for the mare, although the G3 Counties Bowl in November might be an attractive option for ore black type.
Luberon was a winner and ran third in the Listed Challenge Stakes as a two-year-old and added two further victories last season and placed in the G2 Auckland Guineas after finishing fourth in the G1 1000 Guineas.
We bred the mare who is a daughter of the unraced Fastnet Rock mare Elegant Achiever and her pedigree page features the European Group winners Wunder’s Dream, Grecian Dancer, Muffri’ha, Asymetric and Mill Stream.
Also the dam of the multiple winner Ellmaknifico, Elegant Achiever has a juvenile sister to Luberon named So We Go and is due to foal to Almanzor.