Ekaterina hoping to carry on family tradition

By Glenn Davis

Another chapter in one of Queensland’s famous breeding families is set to unfold if trainer Rob Heathcote’s judgement is proven correct.

The Heathcote-trained Ekaterina is a $7 chance in early markets for the Group 3 Vo Rogue Plate at Doomben on Saturday.

Ekaterina has started eight times for three wins including a dominant last start victory in a Benchmark race over 1400 meres at Eagle Farm on December 10.

“She’s going well and this is a big challenge for her against Stroll and some of the southern visitors,” Heathcote said.

“She’s out of a great family and has a lot to live up to.

“I’ve taken her along slowly so far and my biggest fear is the tempo of the race.

“She’s a lot like Startantes and likes to get back in her races and has a big finish.

“If there’s a bit of tempo on up front, she’ll be getting home strongly.”

A win would follow a family tradition of claiming black-type with Ekaterina’s half-sister Startantes, already proven at the highest level in the Group 1 Tatt’s Tiara at Eagle Farm in June.

Her mother Funtantes earned more than $704,000 in prize money during her career which included winning the Group 2 Champagne Classic at Doomben in 2009 and Listed Nudgee Handicap and Listed Juanmo Stakes.

Funtantes was a 10-time winner and is a daughter of Heathcote’s former top producing broodmare, Cantantes.

Cantantes was nothing special on the track, winning only two of her 37 starts but was a star in the breeding barn going on to be one of Queensland’s best broodmares over the past two decades.

Heathcote, a five-time Brisbane premiership winning trainer, has trained just about all of Cantantes' off-spring before she passed away in 2018.

Funtantes has carried on the family tradition to be a success at stud as well as on the racetrack after also producing six-time winner Ziemba as well as an unraced Spirit Of Boom two-year-old Beautantes and an unnamed yearling full sister to Startantes.

Some big name three-year-olds have claimed the Vo Rogue Plate in past years including subsequent Group 1 winners Apache Chase, Alligator Blood and Lucky Hussler as well as former star sprinter Winning Rupert.