Trainer Enver Jusufovic out to cap his best ever season with a win in Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield

Cranbourne trainer Enver Jusufovic has never had a better season but winning Saturday’s Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes would be the perfect finish to a year in which the stable enjoyed its maiden Group 1 win.

Trainer Enver Jusufovic has a talented horse on his hands in New York Lustre. Pictures: Racing Photos

Cranbourne trainer Enver Jusufovic could cap the best season of his career with another feature win in Saturday’s Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield.

Jusufovic enjoyed his maiden Group 1 triumph when Pinstriped saluted in the Memsie Stakes early in the season while he has also posted personal best win and prizemoney tallies along with achieving a superb 24 per cent winning strike rate.

The trainer said his results were especially pleasing given the fact he does not have high-priced yearlings in his stable.

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“The horses I’ve got, none of them are fashionably bred so I’m happy with the way they have performed to their best,” Jusufovic said.

New York Lustre has been one of Jusufovic’s biggest improvers, starting the season with only a Seymour maiden win to her name but reeled off four straight wins before running second at her first crack at Group racing in the Sir John Monash Stakes.

Jusfuvoic said the mare had come a long way since she finished third on debut in a Stony Creek maiden on debut in December 2023.

“If you said to me, when I took her to Stony Creek for her first run, that this horse is a Group horse, whatever you were drinking, I’d want some,” Jusufovic said.

“It’s hard to get a guide at that stage because they’re still learning and still physically maturing.

“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle, you slowly put the pieces together and give them every opportunity to mature and learn to race.

“Then you can assess their truest ability.”

New York Lustre, ridden by Carleen Hefel, wins at The Valley in April. Picture: Reg Ryan / Racing Photos

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Jusufovic said New York Lustre had simply matured physically and mentally to become one of Melbourne’s most promising sprinters.

He said the five-year-old would be harder to beat in the Bletchingly Stakes with the aid of fitness gained from her Monash Stakes placing with top jockey Jamie Melham in the saddle.

“Jamie was of the opinion that she might have peaked on her run with 100(m) to go but she still toughed it out,” Jusufovic said.

“That’s the type of mare she is.

“She’s got a will to win and she won’t lay down.”

She knows how to win! 🔥

New York Lustre makes it 5 wins on the trot for @jusufovicracing 🗽 pic.twitter.com/46UWRfsGNg

— Racing.com (@Racing) April 26, 2025

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Jusufovic conceded New York Lustre’s rating of 92 meant she was disadvantaged at weight-for-age against higher-rated opposition but said the Manhattan Rain mare would stand up to the challenge.

“She’s come through really well from the Sir John Monash where she was quite underdone going into that race without a jumpout so she’ll improve immensely from that,” Jusufovic said.

“She’ll have a gallop on the grass at Cranbourne on Tuesday and she’ll certainly strip fitter from that first-up run and we look forward to seeing what she can do on Saturday.

“On weights and measures, she’s not really that well placed but, at her age and with her form, if you think there’s upside, it’s certainly worth a try to win black type for her breeding purposes.”

Originally published as Trainer Enver Jusufovic out to cap his best ever season with a win in Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield