3 minute read
The powerful Waikato Stud operation crowned an outstanding week with race track success at their home meeting on Saturday.
Their colours were carried to a dominant win in the J Swap Contractors Breeders’ Stakes Raceday Rating 75 by the home-bred Mary Quant, whose victory followed the Matamata nursery’s dominance at Karaka.
They ended the NZB National Yearling Sales as the leading Premier Sale vendor by aggregate for the third consecutive year and a record top price of $775,000 for their brother to the Group One winner Diademe.The colt is by resident stallion Savabeel, who topped the Select averages with nine horses sold at an average of $101,667 after his stock grossed more than $11 million during the Premier session.
A four-year-old daughter of Savabeel’s former associate sire O’Reilly and the multiple Group One winner Legs, Mary Quant made light work of her wide gate to lead and she had the race in safe keeping when she dashed away on straightening.“I got away with a few nice sectionals and she kicked away on the corner,” rider Danielle Johnson said. “This is a really nice mare and she’ll pick up a good race.”
Mary Quant has now won four of her 13 starts for trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott and she may get her chance at a higher prize this season.“When she’s out in the open she can roll along and quicken when she wants to,” Scott said.
“She’s a good mare and I’m sure she’ll crack on now. We’ll get her through the grades and we might look for a black type race toward the back end of her campaign.”