Gun New Zealand three-year-old Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel) got his first taste of Australian racing on home soil on Saturday when placing behind Aussie raiders Here To Shock (NZ) (Shocking) and Bosustow (Blue Point) in the Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa, and his connections are now looking forward to testing his talents across the Tasman.
Raced by The Oaks Stud, Savaglee has been an unstoppable force against his own age group this season, winning five of his six starts, including the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), before being tested at weight-for-age for the first time over the weekend.
The Oaks Stud General Manager Rick Williams was satisfied with the performance of the Pam Gerard-trained colt and said he didn’t get all favours in the running.
“We knew they (Here To Shock and Bosustow) were good horses and it is always hard for a three-year-old at weight-for-age. It was a hell of a race and I am very proud of the horse,” Williams said.
“He went a little bit keenly once Babylon Berlin crossed him. He usually drops the bit and relaxes nowadays, but he was a little bit fierce and just got held up a for a while in the straight, which was probably the difference of running second.
“He would never have beaten the winner, who was brilliantly ridden by Nash Rawiller and sat outside us, and older horses can lean on you a bit and dominate three-year-olds.
“It was his first time against the older horses, so it was a good experience for him, and I am sure he will improve off it.”
Williams is now looking forward to heading to Melbourne with his colt where he will take his place in the Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 8.
“I am certain now that he prefers a mile to 1400m and we are going on to the Australian Guineas, there is no reason not to go,” he said.
“The form analysts are telling me we are right in the mix. I think he has dropped down to third favourite, but the bookmakers don’t worry me, I am quite sure he will go over there and he will be right in it.”
With his $45,000 cheque from the weekend, Savaglee has now surpassed $1 million in earnings, and Williams said that is a credit to the enhanced prizemoney in New Zealand over the last 18 months.
“Savaglee has gone past the million-dollar mark already just racing in New Zealand, so it gives you some idea of what the improvement in prizemoney means to owners throughout the country,” he said.
“It always takes a while to filter through. The overall economy here and worldwide has got its problems, and there is not the disposable income around. The turnover figures are fantastic, it has gone against the trend, and all credit to Entain.”
While Savaglee has been the flagbearer for The Oaks Stud’s racing team this season, Williams has high hopes for a couple of other three-year-olds.
“We have got a really nice filly caller Cypher with Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott,” Williams said. “She won her last start and is running in a special conditions maiden at Matamata (on Saturday). I think she is a very progressive filly.
“I think Alaskan is a chance in the Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m). She just got caught a bit flat-footed when they sprinted in the David and Karyn Ellis Fillies Classic (Gr.2, 2000m). Trentham will suit her and the mile-and-a-half will suit her better.”
Williams is also tipping a big future for last start Gr.3 Colin 2YO Classic (1200m) runner-up Tajana.
“She is a filly that will go forward from here and be a lovely three-year-old,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Oaks Stud tasted stakes success as breeders over the weekend when evergreen gelding Harlech (NZ) (Darci Brahma) took out the Listed Hazlett Stakes (1400m) at Wingatui.
Out of Group One performer Obsessive, Harlech is by former The Oaks Stud stallion Darci Brahma and is a half-brother to stakes performer Obsessive.
He was purchased out of The Oaks Stud’s 2018 Book 1 Yearling Sale draft by bloodstock agent Paul Moroney for $100,000 and went on to join Ballymore Stables, run by his brother Mike.
Harlech went on to become a top three-year-old in New Zealand when trained by Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard, winning two and placing in four of his seven starts, including victory in the Gr.2 James And Annie Sarten Memorial Stakes (1400m), and runner-up efforts in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) and Listed Uncle Remus Stakes (1400m).
While he went on to place in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) and last season’s Gr.3 Canterbury Gold Cup (2000m), Harlech hadn’t added to his single stakes success as a three-year-old until Saturday where he dominated his rivals to take out the Hazlett Stakes by 3-1/2 lengths.
“He is such a great, old horse,” Williams said. “He ran second to Catalyst in the 2000 Guineas way back in 2019 and I have always loved the horse. It was nice that we bred the quinella (in the Guineas) and the one we kept the ownership of won the race.
“He has been a wonderful horse for the owners, and he is still going strong. I didn’t think he could win from that outside barrier (11), but he got up for them, they are great owners the Fletcher family.”
The Oaks Stud are still breeding from his dam, Obsession, and Williams said she has been an asset for the Cambridge farm.
“Obsession has been a great mare. She was a Group Two winner and Group One placed,” he said. “She has been a terrific producer and it’s a great family. She has got a Proisir colt at foot and is in-foal to U S Navy Flag.”