AURUM BELLE, MARIA LUCIA PUT ON A SHOW AT ASCOT

By Graham Potter | Saturday, April 4, 2026

Two fillies … Aurum Belle and Maria Lucia … went into the Group 3 Gimcrack Stakes at Ascot on Saturday defending their respective unbeaten records and they duly proceeded to produce a stirring two-way battle befitting of their status in the 2026 edition of the race which ultimately saw the Neville Parnham trained Aurum Belle make it three wins in a row, cementing victory by a hard-earned 0.48 lengths from the Sean and Jake Casey trained Maria Lucia, who certainly lost no followers in defeat.

Their predicted dominance in the race was reflected in the betting with Aurum Belle ($1.50) and Maria Lucia ($4.60) being the only runners quoted at odds of less than $14 … and, in spite of both jumping from wide barrier draws, the two main fancies wasted little time in pulling themselves to the front with Aurum Belle leading and Maris Lucia sitting to her outside, leas than a length back.

Maria Lucia was almost right alongside Aurum Belle on the point of the home turn … applying pressure on the long-time leader … but there was simply no give in Aurum Belle’s resolve and the daughter of Snitzel continued to hold a narrow advantage on straightening.

And then, with 200m left to run, Aurum Belle hit top gear, gave a kick, and the margin of 1.75 lengths between Aurum Belle and Maria Lucia was suddenly the widest it had been throughout the race.

That would prove to be the winning move, although Brad Parnham had to continue to ride very hard as Maria Lucia threatened to come back at her adversary … and, in fact, did so over the concluding stages under Chris Parnham to get within that 0.48 lengths of Aurum Belle at the line, without ever looking likely to get past her.

Both runners are likely to renew their rivalry in $500 000 Karakatta Plate, a Group 2 race for two-year-olds on April 18, The race will be contested over 1200m a distance which Aurum Belle has yet to tackle and over which Maria Lucia has already recorded a win having taken out the MM 2YO Classic over the 1200m trip in her start prior to the Gimcrack.

Lady Torque ($31), who came in a full 4.18 lengths behind the winner, finished third.

“She’s got speed … she can maintain that speed … and she can kick off the corner,” was the way trainer Neville Parnham described Aurum Belle’s run.

“I think she clocks off a little bit to be honest, but, yeah, hopefully she gets more experience and be better with that.

“It was a courageous run by the second horse (Maria Lucia), but she was just a bit too clever.

“I’ve made a point of saying, I don’t think she is screwed right down yet so, over the next couple of weeks, she’ll come on naturally and I think she will be right at her peak in a couple of weeks."

And it is not only in a race that Aurum Belle’s fighting qualities come to the fore.

“She was on her hind legs there at the back of the stalls,” said Parnham. “She’s like a fire-cracker just waiting to be lit up.”

Jockey Brad Parnham gave his view of how the race unfolded.

“I didn’t need to lead by any means, but she jumped so clean … and, that first one hundred meters, she just wanted to go, so I was just happy to go with her and keep her comfortable,” said Parnham.

“I knew I had the one to beat sitting outside me. She gave me real good test in the straight. To the second horse’s credit she was really strong, but my filly found enough in the tank to lift.

“It was a really good effort.”

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