Upset gives wine boss moment to savour

Martinborough breeder and part-owner Ian Smart was confident of Vosne Romanee finishing in the first five in the $1.2m Kelt Capital Stakes at the Hawke's Bay Racing Club's meeting at Hastings on Saturday but winning was "a thought, no more than that".
Punters on the other hand didn't give the Electronic Zone seven-year-old geldling much of a chance at all, something illustrated by him returning odds of 55 to one when he stormed home by take victory by three-quarters of a length.
Smart, who owns Vosne Romanee in a trust which also includes wife Alana, sons Zach, Conor and Harry and daughter Molly, told the Times-Age from Hastings yesterday that his optimism was borne out of the fact the horse had experienced little luck in his recent racing.
"We've had bad draws, checks in the running, unsuitable tracks....you name it we've had it," he said. "It was just a matter of things going right for a change and fortunately they did.".
Those sentiments are backed by a quick glance at Vosne Romanee's lead-up form to the group one Kelt which show that in the Mudgway Stakes on August 29 he was taken off the track by a riderless horse and then in the Windsor Park Plate on September 19 he struck an unsuitable slow track and consequently beat only three home.
Ian Smart is general manager of the Alanna Estate Vineyard in Martinborough so it comes as no surprise to find Vosne Romanee is named after a wine village in Bergundy.
He is a son of the mare Madison Avenue who was bought "pretty cheaply" when the Smarts first decided to get into the racing game just a few years ago and who remains as their only broodmare.Her latest foal is by the formerly Hong-Kong based Ekaar.
Vosne Romanee is trained by Awapuni by Jeff Lynds and was ridden by Buddy Lammas, who only completed his apprenticeship two days earlier.
Loammas rode 96 winners last season but today's success was his first group one win.
He did the perfect job on Vosne Romanee, tracking the favourite Daffodil for much of the race before angling out and outfinishing his rivals. Gunga Dude was second and Miss Maren third. Daffodil was fourth.
Just where Vosne Romanee will head next has not yet been decided but Ian Smart said that while an Australian campaign had been given some thought the probability was he would stay in New Zealand and contest other major races here.
Two other horses with close Wairarapa affiliations also contested the Kelt and both of them finished within five lengths of the winner. Tavistock was eighth and Fritzy Boy three places behind him.