No shame in that; the best version of Here To Shock would have beaten many of Australia’s top 3-year-olds under those circumstances, while Bosustow is the Magic Millions Guineas winner, so a genuine major 3-year-old race contender in Australia.
But punters are used to seeing Savaglee win, and the defeat raised the obvious question: Isn’t he better off staying home for an NZB Kiwi than contesting an Australian Guineas?
Managing owner Rick Williams from the Oaks Stud says he liked enough of what he saw on Saturday to suggest to trainer Pam Gerard they press on with the Guineas campaign and the windfall a victory there would bring to Savaglee’s future stallion career.
“He was very good when you consider the opposition,” says Williams.
“The winner was too good, so no excuses from us there, but our fella did sweat up a bit and might have been feeling a touch fresh.
“We think he could have run second to what is a good weight-for-age horse had he got clearer room in the straight.
“We also think he’s ready for 1600m, and a strong 1600m at Flemington next up will really suit him. So the plan is to head to Melbourne rather than changing direction to the Kiwi.”
Williams says that means he won’t be entering into negotiations with any Kiwi slot holders, so as to not waste their time.
“Everything will be firmed up more in a week after we see how he has come through this race, but that’s the plan at the moment and we want to be transparent.”
Williams suggests next season, Savaglee could end up being an elite 2000m weight-for-age horse, which would open a range of huge Group 1 doors if he can take that step.
As for the NZB Kiwi, it will do just fine without Savaglee, who was rated $8 in the market on Sunday as the TAB bookies took a “just in case” stance.
A month or so ago, there was a where-will-they-come-from vibe to the first running of the NZB Kiwi but it is filling up nicely as new contenders emerge, while high-class Victorian galloper Evaporate was back at Caulfield on Saturday and looking on track for the new slot race at Ellerslie on March 8.
What horses are chosen next will be fascinating, but the hype and interest continue to grow, with promoting any race months out a huge battle these days due to the enormous number of major race days on seemingly every weekend.
Just as pleasingly, the NZB Kiwi looks like it will not cannibalise the Trackside New Zealand Derby the same day.
The two races draw on similar pools of horses but they are dividing up nicely, with some such as Checkmate heading to the Kiwi, but others such as Saturday’s Waikato Guineas winner Tuxedo now Derby-bound.
With Australian interest also growing in the Derby and it having a genuine pin-up horse in Willydoit, both races look set to have worthy fields for what is going to be the biggest race meeting in New Zealand history.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.
