The judiciary was on Rollout The Carpet’s side this time as she won the Group One 1000 Guineas in Christchurch on Saturday.
Rollout The Carpet lost the Group One Diamond Stakes for two-year-olds on protest in March after she veered out to the outside rail.
She was again first past the post in a Group One race on Saturday, scraping home over Waterford by a nose in the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton racecourse after leading all the way for jockey Mark du Plessis.
But her connections must have been sweating after Waterford’s jockey Leith Innes protested, alleging Rollout The Carpet bumped his mount in the last 100m and cost him the nose margin.
However, the judiciary disagreed and Rollout The Carpet kept the race and a valuable Group One win.
“She jumped out of the gates and fell flat on her face, but she picked herself up straight away,” Du Plessis said.
“Every time I’ve ridden her she’s learned how to race and relaxed every time and she gave a really good kick.”
Rollout The Carpet, by Holy Roman Emperor, is trained at Cambridge by former Australian Olympic equestrian representative Jeff McVean and his daughter Emma-Lee Browne.
It was McVean’s third classic after winning the New Zealand Derby with Leica Guv and the New Zealand Oaks with Jungle Rocket.
