Luna Lovegood is the Winner of 65th 1000 Guineas

1000 Guineas (Group 1), one of the first classic races of the year was held on Sunday, 12 July at the Veliefendi Racecourse. 14 fillies of 3-year-old, participated in the race, which is considered as one of the most important milestones for 3-year-old thoroughbreds towards the Gazi Derby.

The traditional race, organized uninterruptedly since 1956, was held on 1600 meters on turf with the participation of 14 fillies. Luna Lovegood (Kaneko - Write To Me / Iffraaj), winner of all 5 races she has participated so far, crossed the finish line in first place with her jockey Halis Karataş.

The successful filly owned by Tolga Karakartal and trained by İbrahim Bekiroğulları, had her first start and win, at a Condition-1 Race on the turf track of Adana Racecourse. Afterwards, Kaneko’s daughter Luna Lovegood, had 3 starts on the fiber sand track of Adana Racecourse, finishing them all in first place too. Her last victory before the 1000 Guineas was at the Condition-1 race at Ankara Racecourse, on 1500 meters on fiber sand track.

Total amount of the prize money distributed for this year’s 1000 Guineas was over 1,5  Million TL, including 600.000 TL first prize. After her 1000 Guineas triumph, Luna Lovegood’s earnings reached to 1.230.395 TL, including the breeder’s premiums.

The winning jockey Halis Karatas, previously won 1000 Guineas with Butter Fly I in 1990, Lyra in 1994, Lovely Doyoun in 2006 and Berraksu in 2008. He gained the 1000 Guineas’ trophy for the 5th time with Luna Lovegood, after 12 years.

Halis Karatas told in the post-race interview: “We have won 4 races with Luna Lovegood. She was great on fiber sand and I realized her quality at our first race. I believed that we were going to win the 1000 Guineas. Some people had hesitations regarding her performance on turf track, but I never did. I hope she will have a long and healthy racing career. “

Florida Coast (Lemon Drop Kid - Florida Wildcat / Forest Wildcat) finished race in second place with Gökhan Kocakaya and followed by Real Queen (Victory Gallop - Invincible Girl / Mountain Cat) with Ahmet Çelik and Mindhunter (Scarface - Acoustic / Namid) with Özcan Yıldırım. Moorland (Luxor - Match Point / Toccet) with Ayhan Kurşun, crossed the finish line in 5th place.

Luna Lovegood’s finish time was 1.34.70, being the second fastest time of 1000 Guineas, following the performance of Valencia (2018). The margins of the race were: 5 Length – Neck – Nose – 1,5 Length.

Please click here to watch the 65th running of 1000 Guineas