Racing: Regal win reward for sire's fan

Michael Walker guides Queen Sabeel home to win the $50,000 Northland Breeders Stakes. Photo / Supplied

If anyone's found a way of holding Graeme Rogerson down, they're keeping it to themselves.

It was classic "Rogie" at Ruakaka yesterday after he snatched the $50,000 Oceanz Seafood Northland Breeders Stakes with Queen Sabeel.

If this filly is Queen Sabeel, then Graeme Rogerson is King Sabeel.

He trained Savabeel to win a Cox Plate and has been a major influence in settling him up as a New Zealand-based stallion.

"He's the next sire sensation," he said after Queen Sabeel scored an impressive victory over Indisputable and Poetic Music.

You would not have expected anything different.

Graeme Rogerson is many things. Boring is not one of them.

Yesterday's stakes win was the last recorded under the Bergerson/Lucock/Rogerson partnership, which has been abandoned.

For the start of the new season, which begins today, Rogerson will train in partnership for the first time with his longtime life partner and now wife, Debbie Price.

"Debbie's got a bit of catching up to do - I'm a last-start winner," declared Rogerson after the Ruakaka feature.

Rogerson is a part-owner of Queen Sabeel and has shares in Savabeel, who stands at Waikato Stud.

"She's a very good filly," he said.

The new partnership does not have to wait long for its first attempt to strike. It produces the No 1 horse in the first race run in the North Island for the new season - Out Of Pocket at Ruakaka at midday today.

Queen Sabeel, out of the handy mare Vanessatheundressa, recorded the first New Zealand win for Savabeel as a stallion when she won at Te Rapa on June 25.

And she showed the same fighting qualities yesterday and was very strong late in the race, holding herlead comfortably for rider Michael Walker.

Indisputable fought gamely on the inside and Poetic Music was gallant in third place.

Debut runner Pentango created a huge impression against her more experienced rivals. She looked likely at the 220m, but understandably got tired in the final 100m.

The next two home, Lightning Leo and Champagne Rose, both got home strongly down the outside from the back of the field.

The race was largely dominated by the on-pace brigade and the tempo looked to inconvenience favourite Masquerade, who was back in the rear division throughout.