Last start Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m) winner Poser (NZ) (Ocean Park) continued on her winning path on Saturday, when she proved too tough in testing conditions to score narrowly but well at Te Rapa.
Trainer Kurtis Pertab elected to bypass a run at Ruakaka last weekend due to the firm nature of the track that day as he found conditions to suit for his five-year-old daughter of Ocean Park who was dropping back noticeably in company to contest the rating 75 event.
Forced to carry topweight of 60.5kgs, Poser travelled comfortably throughout for regular pilot Tegan Newman and looked to be the potential winner a long way out.
After looming into contention at the 250m, Poser had a fight on her hands with eventual runner-up Blue Moon (NZ) (Ocean Park), however she found plenty in the finals stages to score by a short head at the line.
Purtab was pleased with the result after making the decision to miss a start last weekend.
“She is really tough and when they got into a dogfight in the straight I did think she would be hard to beat,” Purtab said.
“She had to pick the other one up and that can be hard when you are giving away 6kgs or more, but she stuck to her task and had the runner-up covered at the post.
“It’s also nice to be proven correct in waiting a week as it was just going to be too firm for her up at Ruakaka and I think she probably would have jarred up if we had started her.
“I knew there was a race for her here today and she gets through these sorts of wet conditions really well.”
Purtab will now bide his time with mare before looking to claim a second winter Cup contest, when she tackles the Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m) back at the venue on July 30.
“She can have a few days on the easy list now as we get her ready for the Taumarunui Cup here at the end of July,” he said.
“She goes her best races on the fresh side and I don’t think the six-week break will do her any harm as she tends to hold her fitness well.
“After that, we will just pick and choose as we go as she will most likely race through the spring until the tracks start to harden up again.”
Poser, who was purchased by Pertab off gavelhouse.com for just $500, has now won five of her 17 starts and over $107,000 in prizemoney.
Bred by Waikato Stud matriarch Mary Chittick, she is out of the Pins mare Wannabe (NZ) and is closely related to Gr.3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) winner Sahrhys (NZ) (Oak Ridge) and former well-performed Hong Kong galloper Flame Hero (NZ) (Savabeel).
