The Oaks Stud general manager, Rick Williams, was quietly confident leading into the weekend that owner Dick Karreman and resident stallion Darci Brahma could be in for plenty of thrills from their racing representatives at Hastings and Ruakaka on Saturday.
However, even he couldn't predict the level of success theywould enjoy with Karreman represented by four individual winners, all sired by Darci Brahma, who also added two further victories to rack up a sensational six successes for the day.
"I said to a few people that we had our A team running on the weekend so if we didn't go too well it was going to be a pretty tough drive home," Williams said. "What eventuated was pretty sensational and probably even exceeded my expectations.
"Dick was watching it all unfold from home and I know he got a huge kick out of it.
"He is a non-drinker but he even told me he might have a couple to celebrate on Saturday night, so that was something very special."
Karreman kicked the day off with a win in the inquiry room at Hastings when 3-year-old filly Kali was promoted to first after suffering interference when finishing second behind Jennifer Eccles in the second race on the day. Catalyst dominated his 3-year-old rivals as he streaked to a four-length victory in the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) before lightly raced 4-year-old mare Spring Bouquet stormed home to win over 1400m.
In between times, debutant 3-year-old Double Impact set tongues wagging at Ruakaka when he came from near last to win against a handy field of age-group rivals over 1000m.
For Williams, the wins of Catalyst and Double Impact vindicated the opinion he has held of the pair since they first appeared on the training track last year.
"We've said all along we thought we had something special with this pair and another in Darci's Tune that we have sent over to Patrick Payne in Melbourne," he said.
Darci Brahma stands at The Oaks Stud at a service fee of $15,000+GST for the current breeding season.
