"It was a great result for her as she has put a lot into the game and he (Handfull) is a horse that she has bred from a family that she has had for a long time."
Jenny Dalby has been a keen racing and breeding enthusiast for close on 50 years and is probably best remembered as the owner-breeder of Milo, who was a top racemare in the late 1970s and a successful broodmare, leaving the winners Salutation, Cop Me and Cryogenic.
Handfull is by Fully Fledged out of Tabitha and traces back to another top galloper Dalby raced in the early 1980s in Saunter, a mare that recorded seven wins, three seconds and eight thirds from 43 starts. She is the great-grandam of Handfull.
Handfull's dam Tabitha never won a race but has also left I Am Leo, who won five races from 35 starts, one from the stable of Stephen Marsh and four for Palmerston North trainer Kevin Gray.
Dalby didn't breed from Tabitha for five years, between 2008 and 2012' and Handfull is the mare's most recent foal to race. She has since left an unraced two-year-old by Nom de Jeu.
Woodville trainer Shane Brown said Handfull has been a slow maturing type and still has a lot to learn but is probably the worst named horse you could come across.
"He's not a handful at all, in fact he's a great horse to do anything with but just a big doof," Brown said.
"He just doesn't know what it is all about at this stage and has hit the front in races in the past but then doesn't know what he's doing.
"He is getting better with every start but I really think he will be a better horse in another six months time."
Handfull has now had six starts for a win and a second and Brown said he will probably give him one more start before turning him out for a spell.
Miss Wilson shows class
Miss Wilson stamped herself as a mare headed for bigger things when scoring a strong win in a $22,500 Rating 75 race over 1400m at last Saturday's Woodville races.
After enjoying a good run in the trail, the four-year-old got a charmed rails run when a riderless horse took others wide at the top of the home straight. Rider Samantha Collett then had to negotiate her clear of the riderless horse early in the home straight before she raced away over the final stages to win by 2-1/2 lengths.
It was the mare's second win in a row, following a long neck victory over 1200m at Trentham on Wellington Cup day.
The daughter of Stratum now has a record of three wins, two seconds and two thirds from 14 starts after breaking through for a maiden victory on the Ballarat racetrack in Victoria in October 2015.
The mare was at that staged trained by Ballarat-based Simon Morrish but was initially prepared by Hastings trainer John Bary and is now back in his stable.
Miss Wilson recorded a win, a second, two thirds and a fourth from nine starts when last campaigned in Australia and the horse's Havelock North owner-breeder, Richard Wood, is keen to test the horse again across the Tasman.
Wood races Miss Wilson with his wife Liz under the banner of Chouxmaani Investments Limited. She is a half-sister to the five time Group 1 winner Jimmy Choux, who also raced in the colours of Richard and Liz Wood and was trained by John Bary.
Jimmy Choux had a record of 12 wins, five seconds and two thirds, with his Group 1 victories coming in the New Zealand 2000 Guineas at Riccarton, New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie, Rosehill Guineas in Sydney and both the Windsor Park Plate and Spring Classic at Hastings. He now stands at Rich Hill Stud in Matamata.
Miss Wilson and Jimmy Choux are both out of the Centaine mare Cierzo, who has also left the winners Choux Diva, Chouxshine and Bootlegger.
Rich Hill Stud sold a colt by Fastnet Rock out of Cierzo at last month's premier session of the Karaka yearling sales for $260,000.
Top filly now resting
Leading filly Volpe Veloce has gone to the paddock for a well-deserved break.
The daughter of Foxwedge was immediately spelled in the wake of her first defeat in eight starts when she ran fourth after failing to stay 2000m in Saturday's Group 2 Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic at Te Rapa.
"She was quite tired, she's been up for a fair while, so we've tipped her out for a holiday," trainer Graham Richardson said.
"She's done us all proud and, at this stage of her life, a mile is as far as she wants to go.
Depending on how she spells, we could have her back for the Te Aroha fillies and mares' race."
The Group 1 Fiber Fresh NZ Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) is on April 8.
Volpe Veloce has this season won the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic, the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes and the Listed Karaka Mile and currently leads the NZ Bloodstock Filly of the Year series with 14 points from La Diosa on 12 and Nicoletta with 10.
Haunui next for sprint star
Star Wanganui galloper Start Wondering will be given the chance to add another Group 1 title to his record at Otaki tomorrow week.
"He'll run in the Haunui Farm Classic and then he'll have a spell," said Evan Rayner, who trains the six-year-old with his daughter J J.
"He's been up for a while and there aren't any other races for him anyway."
While Start Wondering has been in lethal form over short-course distances, he also has an imposing record over 1600m.
He posted three wins and three placings at the trip for his former trainer Paul Belsham and he was also successful over 1500m at Rosehill from Chris Waller's stable before a bleeding attack resulted in his return home.
Start Wondering doubled his Group 1 tally at Te Rapa last weekend when he earned top honours in the $200,000 NRM Sprint (1400m) for regular rider Johnathan Parkes.
The winner of the Group 1 Railway Stakes on his previous trip north, Start Wondering was narrowly denied a feature sprint treble when he was beaten a nose by Signify in the Group 1 Telegraph Stakes at Trentham.
"I've been training since 1969 and been lucky enough to have some very good horses like Van Winkle and Raywood Lass, who was a Group 1 winner, but this horse would be steps ahead of them," Evan Rayner said.
Aussie raider for Auckland Cup
A pass mark from champion trainer Darren Weir at Moonee Valley tonight will book Lord Van Percy's flight to New Zealand.
The Victorian horseman and his group of owners, headed by OTI Racing, view the seven-year-old as the ideal type for a tilt at the Group 1 Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on March 11.
"They are all pretty keen for the horse to go over," Weir's racing manager Jeremy Rogers said.
"He's running over 2500 metres on Friday night and if he goes alright then it's on."
Lord Van Percy began his career in England with Andrew Balding and the son of the former New Zealand shuttle stallion Sir Percy put together a genuine staying record.
He won five races up to 2800m on tracks ranging from fast to heavy and he also placed a further eight times from 19 appearances.
Balding won the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes in 2013 with Side Glance and the following year he brought Lord Van Percy to Australia with Group 1 Melbourne Cup hopes.
The gelding ran fifth in the Group 2 Herbert Power at Caulfield, but he subsequently suffered a tendon strain and, following a lengthy spell, he joined Weir's stable.
Lord Van Percy has yet to win in Australia but he has placed in an open handicap and at his most recent appearance he finished fourth over 2400m.
