The road to Riccarton Park has not been an easy one for Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel), but the colt indicated he is right on track with a stunning performance in Wednesday’s transferred Gr.2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Aroha.
Savaglee, alongside a number of other runners in the race, has fallen victim to a pair of abandonments, firstly with the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) which was rescheduled to Matamata, then the Sarten, which was set to be run on Monday at Te Rapa.
The adaptable colt overcame the first hurdle in winning the Hawke’s Bay Guineas narrowly over So Naïve and Captured By Love, and the trio headed the TAB market again on Wednesday, with the filly closing the short-priced favourite at $1.80, over Savaglee ($5.60) and So Naïve ($6.50).
Savaglee flew his outside barrier draw and settled outside of the early leader Erin Go Bragh, with So Naïve in close quarters to the inside. The colt loomed large turning for home and hit the front early, leaving Captured By Love and Whiskey ‘N Roses to hunt him down, but he was too strong in the finish and held off the latter by 1-½ lengths.
Pam Gerard, who trains Savaglee out of Matamata, admitted there has been plenty of frustration in the camp through his campaign, but couldn’t be prouder of her colt.
“I don’t think he’s done a thing wrong really,” she said. “He’s gone in a bit under the guard, there’s always been a better horse out there, so they tell us.
“I don’t think he could do any more than he’s done today. He’s just a good, honest colt. He wants to get out there, he wants to race. They’ve had two trips away where we’ve gone to nothing, but he just keeps backing up.”
Since the son of Savabeel won when resuming at Taupo, Gerard has made it no secret that the ultimate goal for the spring was the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), to be run next Saturday in the south.
“It was always a goal and losing a race meeting means you are two days closer to where you want to be,” she said.
“You have to turn your horses around and be healthy and keep them in the right state of mind, which was a worry especially when it started raining, that you may have too hard of a run. But he’s just killed them today. He’s done it easy.
“You just want your plan to go to plan, but we’ve just got to deal with it and accept it and move forward.”
Spratt currently sits in an enviable position of holding the rides of both the 2000 Guineas and Gr.1 Barneswood Farm New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) favourites in Alabama Lass and Savaglee, with the latter now the $2.40 top-elect over Captured By Love ($3).
“He’s a really smart little horse, from out there we were actually going to go back, but as soon as he jumped with them, I wasn’t going to pull him back,” she said.
“He settled beautifully and kicked on. I wasn’t too worried about the track easing as he doesn’t mind the bite out of it.
“At the top of the straight I was travelling really well, but halfway up, he started pricking his ears and not pulling up, but just having a look around. I was a bit worried they were going to come and bomb us, but as soon as I gave him a little tickle behind the saddle to put his mind on the job, he dug again. It was very impressive.
“Hopefully it’ll be a good week (at Riccarton).”
Bred by Waikato Stud, Savaglee was purchased by The Oaks Stud for $400,000 at the 2023 Karaka Yearling Sales, of which he has earned back $371,225 with five wins from 11 starts.
With victory today, Savaglee has put himself firmly in NZB Kiwi (1500m) calculations, with the Sarten being one of several NZB Kiwi bonus eligible races.
In addition to the base $3.5 million prizemoney for March’s NZB Kiwi, an additional $1 million in bonuses is up for grabs. To be eligible for a share in the $1 million bonus pool (1st – $600,000; 2nd – $250,000; 3rd – $150,000), a horse must win one of the bonus eligible races, and also run a top three placing in The NZB Kiwi held on Champions Day (8 March 2025).
