Snowdrop sizzles on return

29 October 2015

Snowdrop has a lot to live up to on pedigree and she hasn’t disappointed so far. The four-year-old collected two wins and a placing from her last four-start preparation and she resumed on a top note at Ruakaka this afternoon.

Trainer Tony Pike had her primed for a bold first-up showing when she led all the way to put away a handy field of Rating 75 sprinters. “They went pretty quickly and she really kicked on well,” rider Leith Innes said. “She’s a tough little filly and I love her.”

A daughter of Pins, Snowdrop is the first foal of the stud’s triple Group One winner Daffodil (NZ 1000 Guineas, Windsor Park Plate, AJC Oaks). It is also the family of the former crack two-year-old and Group One winner Good Faith (ARC Sires’ Produce Stakes).

Ardrossan’s Group 1-placed darling wins A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes

Second and fourth in 1600m Group 1 races in her two previous starts since being purchased privately by OTI Racing and stepping out in Australia under Chris Waller’s racing banner, De Armas (Ardrossan) stepped up in distance at Flemington on Saturday and opened her Australian account in style in the A$300,000 Gr.2 HKJC World Pool Wakeful Stakes (2000m) on Derby Day.

30 October 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

The writing of my Corner started many years ago, motivated by an irritation that I felt needed scratching. It was never my intention to make my commentary regular; neither did I intend to reinvent the direction of racing administration. It is both disappointing and ironical that what should be a simple, straightforward business provides a regular need for comment.