Promising staying prospect Arctic Glow showed she is a mare with a big future ahead of her when she took out the first event on the card at Riccarton on Saturday.
The Terry Kennedy-trained galloper was having just her fourth race day start and her first in Rating 75 company but took the rise in grade in her stride as she burst through a narrow gap in the final 150m for rider Corey Campbell to score narrowly but well from runner-up Facetime.
A daughter of Windsor Park stallion Turn Me Loose, Arctic Glow has now won three of her four starts, but punters will have to wait a few months to see her out again as Kennedy gets set to send her to the spelling paddock ahead of a spring campaign.
“She is a very good mare in the making and I think she can go through the grades and get to stakes level later on,” Kennedy said.
“She is only four and still just learning what it is all about but on what she has shown us so far, I think she can go on with it.
“She is a lovely big mare who may be even better when she gets on better ground as Corey did come back in after the race and said she coped the Heavy10 track but wasn’t really that comfortable on it.
“At one stage I didn’t think she was going to get a run as it was pretty tight in the run home, but when she got the gap, she charged through and quickened nicely to get the win.”
Out of the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) placegetter Aurora Lights, Kennedy believes his charge will excel once she gets out to a middle distance.
“Her dam was a very good mare, so she is royally bred and hopefully she can live up to that breeding,” he said.
“By giving her a spell now she goes out in good form, and she can mature some more over her break.
“She can come back towards the end of the spring, and we can look at getting her over ground during that campaign.”
Arctic Glow began her career in Andrew Forsman’s Cambridge stable before transferring south to part owner Mickle Weastell, who prepared her for her debut victory before sending her further south to Kennedy’s Wingatui base where she has now won her last two starts.
