Promising juvenile Whiskey Lies continued his dominant run of form at Ruakaka on Saturday, recording his third consecutive win in the ITM/GIB 2YO Winter Championship Final (1200m).
“It was great to see him win three in a row. He had even improved on his last run, so I was quite surprised in the way he kicked on at the end,” said Krystal Williams, who trains the gelding in partnership with her father Ken Rae.
“We have had a bit of interest in him and it was great to get the win for the owners, they have been with our stable for a long time. To have a nice horse who has surprised us all has been great.”
The son of Embellish’s form has been somewhat of a surprise for his handlers, who predicted stablemate Dancing Dream would have the better of him on raceday, however, on Saturday she placed behind her stablemate once more.
“He (Whiskey Lies) is quite chilled out in his track work,” Williams said.
“When we broke him in he was quite full-on and could be quite bolshy. The team up there have got him right and he must just turn it on on raceday because he has never been a great trackworker.”
The pair will now likely head to the Gr.3 Cambridge Stud Northland Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) at Ruakaka next month, where they will be joined by stablemate Illicit Dream.
“They are three really nice horses,” Williams said.
The stable also picked up a few placings on the eight-race card, with Group One performer Mischief Managed and Heart of Aladdin filling the placings in the ITM/GIB 3YO Winter Championship Final (1600m), while Kereopa was runner-up in the Ruakaka Races 5 August Mid-Winter Xmas (1600m).
“I was so happy to see Mischief Managed hit some form again since her Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m) run, that was great to see,” Williams said.
“Her owner, Sue Martin, also owns Dancing Dream, so it was great to see her horses go well, and Heart of Aladdin finished just behind her.
“Matt Cropp, who rides work for us, got the ride on Kereopa this time. Ever since we got that horse he has done a fair bit of work with him. He had his quirks when he first came to us, so it was good to see him have a good run for him.”