Terri Rae had plenty to celebrate on her home track of Riccarton Park on Saturday, recording a winning treble capped off by the ever-improving Sir Albert (NZ) (Savabeel).
Sir Albert has been a model of consistency for Rae this season, claiming victories over 1600m, 1800m, and a stunning display over 2000m during New Zealand Cup Week.
The son of Savabeel journeyed to Trentham last Saturday to contest the $350,000 Remutaka Classic (2100m), and a luckless run saw him finish strongly late in midfield, a performance duly rectified in the Woodbourne Tavern & Motels Bottle-O Renwick Marlborough Cup (2000m) on Saturday.
Back at his favourite course, where all three of his previous on-turf victories where recorded, the four-year-old started a warm $2.90 favourite ahead of fellow local talent Jon Ol Rocco ($4.20). In the hands of northern jockey Joe Kamaruddin, Sir Albert was settled back in the 10-horse field, the tempo solid up-front with Amazon Goddess in command.
Nearing the 800m mark, Sir Albert remained upwards of 16 lengths from the runaway pacemaker, but a no-panic ride from Kamaruddin saw the gelding track Jon Ol Rocco into the clear, with Sir Albert eventually prevailing in a tough head-bobbing battle to the post.
“He was possibly going to go to Dunedin (next Saturday) after Wellington, but he ended up pretty much following them around up there and running home. He ran the second quickest last 600m and still went really well,” Rae said.
“It was his first trip away, but he came through that well, so we thought while the track was good, which he prefers, it would be a good race to back up in. Back at a better weight and better footing, it all worked perfectly for him.”
Andrew Carston’s Jon Ol Rocco has been a key rival for Rae’s charge this season, finishing ahead of Sir Albert on three occasions over 1600m, while the diminutive gelding narrowly cemented his place on top over 2000m.
“Jon Ol Rocco is a big strapping horse, he seems to have the better of Albert at a mile, but over the 2000m, Albert really shows his best,” Rae said. “They’re both lightly tried, promising horses and super consistent, so it was nice to see them fight out the finish.”
Photo: Race Images South
The victory was Sir Albert’s fifth in just 13 raceday appearances, bringing his total earnings over $151,000, with Rae crediting his impressive performance to niece Ruby, who works at the stable.
“She does a great job and she loves all the horses, but especially Albert. He’s a funny little horse, very small but tries so hard,” she said.
“Albert’s done a great job this prep, he’s pretty tired tonight and it was a big trip for him last weekend, so he is coming home and will have a few weeks out now. We’ll decide what to do with him from there.”
Sir Albert’s triumph was the third in a successful meeting for Rae, saluting earlier on the card with Spot On Time (NZ) (Time Test) in the Karaka 2024 Maiden (1400m), and Chapinteel (NZ) (Savabeel) in the D Reynolds Electrical Rating 65 (1800m), with Aristocrat a close-up second in the Lot 933 Jon Snow Filly At Karaka 2024 (1800m).
A son of Time Test, Spot On Time was a commanding victor under Kylie Williams at her third start, the victory a sentimental one for Rae with the children of the late Kevin Pratt (former principal of Kamada Park) in the ownership.
“We were expecting Spot On Time to go pretty well, especially at the 1400m. He won really nicely,” she said.
“I used to train for Kevin Pratt, so the kids have all taken over and they race this horse now. They were all very happy, so it was cool to get the win for them.”
Lightly-tried Savabeel mare Chapinteel has been in a work in progress for Rae, and produced a professional effort to go back-to-back in successive weeks under apprentice Niranjan Parmar.
“She’s only really lightly-raced, the owners have been very patient with her and she’s been given a fair bit of time. She’s really putting it all together now, maturing and furnishing into a really nice horse. She just needed some confidence,” she said.
“We’ve got a great little team, it was great to get these results.”
