TANABATA has broken through for her maiden victory, producing a determined performance at Kyneton yesterday to claim the 1,454 metres event with Jye McNeil aboard. The lightly raced 3 year old daughter of Zoustar jumped from barrier six in a field of nine and overcame a tricky start on the bend to score by half a length.

Jye was initially forced to race wide before finding cover in sixth position, one off the fence in the early stages. With the field travelling at a good tempo, he began to improve on TANABATA approaching the 500 metres mark, bringing her into contention before turning for home. Despite being slightly unbalanced around the tight corner, TANABATA showed plenty of determination when challenged by several rivals, digging deep to secure a well deserved first win.

Jye was pleased with the performance, praising the filly’s temperament and resilience under pressure and commenting that TANABATA will now be ready to step up to the mile.

TANABATA was a 2025 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling purchase from the draft of Milburn Creek. The filly is thoughtfully named as she is out of the mare Himiko which is the name of an ancient Japanese Queen. Tanabata is a Japanese festival known as the Star Festival (linked to the sire being Zoustar).

Congratulations to the winning TANABATA owners Brent Hudson, David Grasso, Paramount Racing (Manager: Kathryn Wood), Oliver Enriquez, Martin Ive, Rachel Ive, Nick Vass Bloodstock (Manager: Nick Vass), Felgate Holdings (Manager: Paul Felgate), Drew Tanner, Mark O’Brien, Scott Peut, Boeara Holdings (Manager: Denise Dunphy), Scott Maybury, CGO Racing Pty Ltd.