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Important update on 1476AMFamiliar partnership go back-to-back in Star Way Stakes
Joshua Smith, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk • April 18th, 2026 6:03 pm
Miss Janet winning the Listed SkyCity Star Way Stakes (1200m) | Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)
Trainer Stephen Marsh and syndicator Go Racing made it back-to-back wins in the Listed SkyCity Star Way Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie on Saturday when Miss Janet took out the juvenile feature.
The partnership won last year’s edition with Little Black Dress and they went into this year’s race with a pair of quality fillies to defend their crown in Miss Janet and So Fear, with the former having placed on debut at Matamata last month, while the latter was undefeated in her first two outings.
Miss Janet showed plenty of early speed from her ace draw to maintain her advantage on the fence and took up the pacemaker role. She took a stranglehold of the race upfront and looked the winner a long way out, running out a comfortable 1-3/4 length winner, with stablemate So Fear running home well to secure black-type in third.
“We were able to execute early and she showed a good bit of ability,” winning jockey Michael McNab said.
“Across the top she just had her ears pricked and she felt like she was doing that speed very comfortably. When I asked her to pick up just before we turned in, I didn’t think they would run her down off what she showed us the other day (when placing on debut).”
Marsh was pleased both of his fillies earned black-type and he said they will now head for a spell in preparation for a spring campaign geared towards the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton in November.
“Both were purchased by Go Racing and they are two nice fillies with good pedigrees and they have now got black-type, one at the thick end of it and the other third,” Marsh said.
“It is really nice to get black-type with those sorts of horses.
“She (Miss Janet) was unlucky at Matamata (on debut), she got her head into the other partition, missed the jump and did a lot wrong. Michael (McNab) got off and said ‘I don’t care where she is going, I will be riding her’.
“She is very good and in her two starts she should really be unbeaten.
“She has done a good enough job, we don’t need to step her up to 1400m. We will probably put her aside and set her for some good three-year-old races, but we think she is top-class and you could see the race was over a long way from home.”
By Home Affairs, Miss Janet is out of unraced Redoute’s Choice mare Janast, and she was purchased by Go Racing and Blandford Bloodstock out of Newgate Farm’s 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft for A$170,000.
She has now won one and placed in one of her two starts to date and has earned just shy of $60,000 in prizemoney.
