Tranquila relishes extra trip

A step up in distance at Riccarton paved the way for Tranquila to post the first winning strike of her career.The lightly tried Iffraaj filly was making her fifth appearance and, off the back of a couple of minor placings, she broke through in style for trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson and jockey Warren Kennedy.Tranquila bounced quickly to settle three back on the fence and was into clear air at the top of the straight. The three-year-old hit the front 200 metres from home and stayed on well for the thick end of the stake in the Entain-NZB Insurance Pearl Series Race and associated $26,000 bonuses.“She was really well ridden by Warren and got a lovely run,” Walker said.“The extra bit of cut in the track suited her, along with the step to 1600 metres, and she had been building nicely to a win.We race Tranquila after she was purchased on our behalf by Te Akau boss David Ellis for $90,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale where she was offered by breeder Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Stud.“She was a beautiful filly. We knew the family well and the two-year-old sister (Aequus), which we really liked, was in the stable for Sir Peter and she’d won a trial and since won two races,” Ellis said.“It’s a very successful family, especially the fillies, and like a lot of the Pencarrow-breds, there is always a class and quality factor.“It’s great to train horses for Brendan and Jo. The whole team at Cambridge Stud put so much into the New Zealand racing industry and we have a very good relationship with them.”Tranquila is a daughter of the More Than Ready mare Equanimity, who has a 100 percent record at stud with all four foals to race successful.The dam is out of the former NZB Filly of the Year and G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas heroine Insouciant with Dorabella and Media Sensation also winner of the Riccarton Classic on the pedigree page.