QALI AL FARRASHA

Proudly bred and raced by David Ellis CNZM and Westonlea Bloodstock Partnership, Almanzor mare Qali Al Farrasha showed early on that she could be a special filly.

Winning a trial in March 2023 as a 2YO certainly confirmed that she had ability, it was now a case of bringing that to the fore, and she was spelled and give time to further mature and develop - always the philosophy of the Te Akau team.

Qali Al Farrasha's first win came in February 2024 in the hands of Opie Bosson ONZM, at her fifth start, having been placed in all of her four starts prior.  It was only a matter of time until she broke her maiden status - and now she was in the hunt for valuable black type.

This came quickly and in big doses as a 3YO as she finished runner up, beaten a neck, in the $150,000 Group 3 McKee Family Sunline Vase for 3YO fillies at Ellerslie on 2 March 2024 - the narrow margin of defeat to become something of a repeat situation in her seasons to come, especially at the elite level.

Just two weeks later at Trentham, she lined up as an outsider in the $500,000 Group 1 Al Basti New Zealand Oaks 3YOF SW 2400m and put in a superb performance to finish third.  A quick hit and run to Morphetville did not deliver the desired result so she returned home and enjoyed a well earned break.

That spell did the now 4YO mare the world of good as she bounced back into the winner's circle at Ellerslie in October 2024, winning a Benchmark 75 1400m event. The following month she stormed home late to snatch second in the $170,000 Group 3 TAB Counties Cup over 2100m when ridden by Wiremu Pinn - it was an eye-catching effort, to finish just half a length from the winner.

More desperately close finishes in black type races were to come - perhaps the closest of all in January 2025, when Qali Al Farrasha fought hard again with Pinn in the saddle to finish second in the $500,000 Group 1 Harcourts Thorndon Mile 1600m - the margin - half a head.

In February 2025, in the $500,000 Group 1 Sport Nation Otaki Maori WFA Classic 1600m, she chased home the subsequent Horse of the Year to again finish second - and these Group 1 placings continued in March 2025 with her third placing behind two other Group 1 winners in the $1,000,000 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes WFA 2000m at Ellerslie on Champions' Day.

Given a break, nothing went her way in two legs of the Hawkes' Bay Triple Crown, so she was given time off, time to regroup and plan her next campaign.  This resulted in her first, and thoroughly well-deserved stakes' victory - an outstanding win in the $225,000 Group 2 Dunstan Horse Feeds Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes WFA F&M 1400m - too strong she was, defeating Group 1 winning competition by 1.75 lengths.

The final race of her current campaign took Qali Al Farrasha to Te Rapa on Waikato Cup Day when she finished fourth in the $175,000 Group 2 Cal Isuzu Stakes F&M 1600m.

Qali Al Farrasha has raced 18 times for three wins and 12 placings, earning $594,925 to date.