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The Graeme Rogerson trained Soriano won the G3 Eulogy Stakes at Awapuni on Saturday to give her sire Savabeel his 21st stakes winner.
Soriano (Savabeel x Call Me Lily, by Just A Dancer) was rewarded after two good performances at G1 level at her previous two starts when third in the Levin Classic and sixth in the NZ 1000 Guineas.
She picked up valuable points in the NZ Filly of the Year series when she beat the O'Reilly pair Emerald Queen and Lovetessa.
The result was a trifecta for stallions standing at Waikato Stud.
Soriano, who has now won two of her 10 starts, was retained by her breeder Denise Howell after she was passed in at the New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale at Karaka in 2011 for NZ$45,000.
She is out of the eight-time winner Call Me Lily (Just A Dancer), a Wagga Gold Cup winner trained by Rogerson who has produced four winners including six time winner and stakes placed Affairoftheheart (Fusaichi Pegasus).
Rogerson also trained Soriano’s Cox Plate winning sire Savabeel (Zabeel) and dam sire Just A Dancer (Star Way).
O’REILLY mare Annie Higgins bounced back to her best form with a fighting victory in Saturday’s G3 Waikato Gold Cup at Te Rapa.
Annie Higgins (O’Reilly x Diva Bella, by Carnegie) won the Listed Sunline Classic in 2011 and was placed in the G2 Royal Stakes, Sir Tristram Classic and Eight Carat Classics at three before she was injured when finishing fifth in the New Zealand Oaks.
A pair of wins in Benchmark grade showed the five-year-old wasn’t far off her best form and she came into the Waikato Cup off a solid fourth in the G2 Counties Cup at Pukekohe.
Annie Higgins took her prizemoney tally to more than $175,000 for Matamata trainer Lance Noble and breeder/owner Marie Leicester.
“She got hurt and it basically took a year for her to come right,” Noble said.
“It’s been a big team effort to get her back so we’re all over the moon.
"I’m so thrilled for Marie, she’s such a wonderful owner and she deserves this."
* TALENTED sprinter Sir Lovesalot (Darci Brahma x Sound Lover, by Sound Reason) became the sixth stakes winner for her sire with his win in the Listed Shaw’s Sprint at Te Rapa.
Sir Lovesalot, a $220,000 purchase at the 2010 NZB Premier Yearling Sale, is the third stakes winner foaled by G3 performer Sound Lover (Sound Reason x Country Flower, by Oncidium).
