Former Zimbabwean jockey Mark Du Plessis gained his second group-one win within five weeks when partnering Star Satire to a runaway victory in the $100,000 Auto Auctions Weight-For-Age at Trentham in Wellington yesterday.
Du Plessis gained the first internationally recognised group-one win of his career at the same track on January 20 when taking out the New Zealand Oaks aboard the Sheila Laxon-trained Tapildo.
The 25-year-old jockey rode a group-one winner while in Zimbabwe, but it did not carry the international recognition his two group-one wins in New Zealand do.
Star Satire, at odds of 5-1, was simply too good for her rivals yesterday after starting from all but the outside in the 14-horse field.
The Volksraad three-year-old filly trailed leader Spring Rain most of the way and had reached the lead early in the long home straight.
She bounded clear half-way down the straight and went to the finish several lengths ahead of her nearest rival.
Cinder Bella took second in the first start of a new campaign. She was back of mid-field entering the home straight but ran home strongly down the centre of the track.
Close up next were Golden Butterfly, followed by Buster Brookfield (fourth), Comacho (fifth) and Cheiron (sixth).
The time for the 1400m was an excellent 1m 21.44s, which was less than a second outside the New Zealand record of 1m 20.42s set by Dopff at Te Rapa in 1993.
Star Satire is trained at Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty by Ross Taylor who had freshened the horse for yesterday's assignment.
Her previous start had been on December 26 when she beat all but La Bella Dama in the group-two $100,000 Eight Carat Classic (1600m) for three-year-old fillies at Ellerslie.
Du Plessis arrived in New Zealand in November 1998 and has quickly made his mark. He more than 100 wins to date and a distinctive riding style.
In Zimbabwe he was leading apprentice for the 1994-95 season and leading overall jockey in 1997-98.
He is due to leave for Singapore next month for a six-month riding stint, joining forces there with former New Zealand trainer Stephen Gray.
- NZPA
Racing: Group-one star again
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