Jockey Kavish Chowdhoory drives Penny Royal clear of her rivals as they near the finish line in a Rating 75 race over 1400m on the Awapuni synthetic track last Sunday.
OPINION
Consistent Hawke’s Bay mare Penny Royal recorded her seventh win last weekend as she winds down her racing career.
The Per Incanto nine-year-old belied her age with another game performance when beating four rivals in a Rating 75 race over 1400m on the Awapuni synthetic track on Sunday.
Ridden by Kavish Chowdhoory, Penny Royal trailed third in the early stages before improving quickly between the leading duo to take a clear lead coming to the home turn.
Early pacemaker Bee Enchanted wrested back the lead early in the home straight but Penny Royal rallied again in the final stages and got up to win by three-quarters of a length.
It was Penny Royal’s 38th race start for a record of seven wins, three seconds and three thirds and she has won more than $89,000 in stakemoney.
Officially trained by the Hastings partnership of Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos, Penny Royal spends most of her time at the Porangahau property of her owner Mary Darby and does a lot of work on Porangahau beach.
The quiet beach environment seems to suit the mare and she is also building a great record on the Awapuni synthetic track, her last six starts on the surface resulting in three wins and two seconds.
She has also twice finished fourth on the Cambridge synthetic track and that is where she is likely to race next, according to co-trainer Guy Lowry.
“There is a 1300-metre Rating 75 race at Cambridge for her on October 2,” Lowry said.
He added that she will be coming back in distance, which is not ideal, but it is an opportunity to give her another race on a synthetic track before she heads to Westbury Stud to be mated with El Roca.
Penny Royal is by Per Incanto out of the Perfectly Royal mare Mint and is a full-sister to the one-race winner Gohugo, who is also trained by Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos.
Aussie rolls in for HB Group 1 features
The Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival is set to get an injection of international flavour with Australian raider Rolls set to contest the final two legs of the Hastings Group 1 triple crown, the $400,000 Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600m) next Saturday and the $550,000 Livamol Classic (2040m) on October 12.
Warrnambool trainer Maddie Raymond was in search of more forgiving ground during spring and, after consultation with her expat Kiwi partner Patrick Bell, she decided the Hawke’s Bay carnival presented as a nice option for last year’s Listed Warrnambool Cup (2350m) winner.
“My partner Patrick Bell is travelling over with him and he is really looking forward to getting back home with one of our team,” Raymond said.
“We are coming into a spring carnival over here where our tracks tend to dry out a bit and the quality of racing gets really strong.
“I think the horse is going absolutely super but he is not an easy horse to place over here.
“Paddy has always followed New Zealand racing and always wanted to take a horse over there, and this horse fits the profile really well.”
The eight-year-old gelding has been a key player in Raymond’s fledgling training career, and she is excited to be able to target some Group 1 features for his loyal owners.
“He has always been a good, honest horse,” she said. “He is a homebred that the owners bred themselves. It is only a small ownership group, with eight people in it.
Rolls was a convincing last start winner over 1523m at The Valley on August 24 and was flown to New Zealand on Wednesday, where he will be based at Andrew Campbell’s property in Otaki.
“I think his best trip is anywhere from a mile to 2000m, and I think he will be a good chance in both races,” Raymond added.
Rolls is presently rated a $14 chance on the TAB Fixed Odds market for next Saturday’s Arrowfield Stud Plate with Skew Wiff the favourite at $3and Faraglioni and Malt Time on the second line of betting at $5. Mustang Valley and Pearl Of Alsace are on the third line of betting at $9 with El Vencedor and Mali Ston next at $10.
Loch Katrine ends long drought with game win
It has been a long time between celebration drinks for the Hawke’s Bay connections of Loch Katrine, but the way the mare won at Te Rapa last Sunday suggests she could now go on to better things.
The Ardrossan four-year-old was recording just her second win from 18 starts and her first since she took out the Listed Champagne Stakes (1600m) at Pukekohe in April last year.
In the interim she has recorded a number of minor placings in strong fields and been unlucky on several occasions.
Aided by a great ride by experienced jockey Opie Bosson, Loch Katrine scored a decisive length victory in a $40,000 Rating 65 race over 1600m at Te Rapa.
It was Bosson’s sole ride for the day and he got the mare out quickly from an outside draw to have her in a perfect trailing position before sending her forward to take the lead coming to the home turn.
Loch Katrine shot clear early in the home straight and victory was never in doubt after that.
Loch Katrine is owned by Hawke’s Bay couple Paul Sullivan and Annie Phillips along with Napier-based Bruce Browne and Dave Paterson, who was formerly from Napier but now resides in Rotorua.
Sullivan paid a mere $1300 to buy Loch Katrine through the online Gavelhouse auction site after she had originally been sold for $6000 at the 2022 Karaka yearling sales.
The horse was originally prepared by Daniel Miller, who prepared her to win the Champagne Stakes but gave up training at the beginning of last season so she was transferred to Matamata trainer Stephen Autridge.
“It was good to win a decent race with her because she’s that honest, she always tries and has been close just about every start, while being unlucky at times,” Autridge said.
“When Daniel decided to give up his trainer’s licence, a couple of the owners are good friends with Opie’s father and he told them to give me a call, so they did.
“It’s great for the horse and her owners to win a nice race.
“We go into a Rating 75 now, so we’ve just got to look at the weather. There’s a race coming up at Hawke’s Bay, but it’s usually good weather there, so there is another at Matamata the week after.
“We’ll just be looking and waiting.”
Loch Katrine is out of the Zenno Rob Roy mare Cong’er, who was the winner of five races including the Listed Karaka Classic (1600m).
Mazzucato bounces back to her best
Mazzucato, a horse that showed plenty of potential when winning two races early last season before her form dropped away, made an impressive return with a dominant win in a Rating 65 race over 1400m at Matamata on Friday of last week.
The Tivaci mare, prepared by the Walker/Bergerson stable, is owned by the Te Akau Honour Bright Racing Partnership with Napier’s Bruce Lewis being a five per cent shareholder.
She was having her first start for five months when she lined up at Matamata but was backed in to start a $3.70 favourite.
Jockey Opie Bosson settled behind midfield in the early running before sending her on a forward move from the 600m. She was the widest runner making the home bend but quickly put a space on her rivals when asked her to extend and was being eased down over the final stages, crossing the line with a 1-1/2 length advantage.
Mazzucato began her racing career from Te Akau’s Riccarton base and recorded her first success in a maiden 1200m race on a heavy track at Riccarton in September last year. She followed that up, three starts later, with a decisive win in a $65,000 three-year-old race over 1400m on the same track.
She was then tested against the top three-year-old fillies in the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) at Trentham and, although she only finished eighth, she was severely checked in the early stages.
Mazzucato contested three other black type three-year-old races last season and, although unplaced, she was not far away and her connections have nominated her for the Group 3 $250,000 TAB Milke (1600m) at Riccarton on November 13.
She is likely to have her next start in a $40,000 Rating 75 race over 1600m at Matamata on October 5.
The four-year-old was a $120,000 purchase by Te Akau principal David Ellis, from the 2022 Karaka yearling sales, and has now recorded three wins, a second and a third from 15 starts.
Extra race day at Woodville
The meeting scheduled for Te Aroha on Sunday, September 29, will now be at Woodville.
This is the final jumps meeting of the year and will feature an open steeplechase and an open hurdle.
With the Te Aroha track still unavailable the meeting needs to move to this venue and the programme, with minor changes, will remain the same.
The maiden two-year-old race on this day will transfer to the Matamata meeting on Saturday, October 5, and will be run over 1050m for a stake of $25,000.
To keep the NZB Mega Maiden Series race in the Northern Region, a maiden 1200m race for $25,000 has been added to the Te Rapa meeting on Friday, September 27.
This race will be an NZB Mega Maiden race with the maiden 1200m at Woodville reverting to a standard maiden.
There will also be a maiden 1600m, with a stake of $18,500, added to the Woodville programme.
Mark Anderson on his experience as exhibitions coordinator at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga.