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Stratford has proved a happy hunting ground for Kay Lane and the Taranaki course was the scene on Saturday for her latest Group One hope to star.
The Levin-based breeder, owner and trainer produced the well-related Figurable to distance his rivals in a maiden three-year-old event over a mile.
The gelding also holds a nomination for next month’s Gr.1 Randwick Meats Levin Classic, but the Trentham race is now off his programme.“He’s my Derby horse,” Lane said. “He needs to get up over ground and he’ll be going to the Avondale Guineas and after that there’s a few options on the way to the Derby.”
A son of Tobique, Figurable is out of the His Royal Highness mare Figurative and is from a family that has produced an extraordinary number of winners for Lane.“That’s the 44th and we love this course – his half-brother Figure Again won a Stratford Cup for me and their mother won here 10 years before that,” she said.
The family also features the Gr.3 Waikato Guineas winner and Gr.1 Queensland Derby runner-up Figurehead, the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks placegetter Figurante and Figueres who finished third in the Gr.1 Levin Classic.Figurable had finished runner-up in his first two appearances and nothing was left to chance at Stratford. Rider Hayden Tinsley took the gelding straight to the front and they coasted home by seven and a quarter lengths.
“Hayden said he was a bit fresh today, but I don’t mind them leading,” said Lane, who also bred, owned and trained the dual Group One Thorndon Mile and Otaki WFA winner Zvezda.Meanwhile, Cruiser made a successful middle distance debut in the Fritz Reuter Immigrants Stratford Jubilee Cup.
“We thought it was a good opportunity, we’ve always wondered if he would stay,” said Waverley part-owner and trainer Harvey Wilson, a former Olympic equestrian representative.