Stud in sync with leading rider
Waikato Stud played a major role in jockey Michael McNab hitting a memorable milestone at Rotorua this afternoon.
Homebred and sold Savabeel filly Synchronize provided the Cambridge rider with his 100th winner of the season in his chase for a first National Jockeys’ Premiership title.
The Mark Walker-trained Synchronize was purchased at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale by Te Akau’s David Ellis for $280,000.
She is out of the unraced O’Reilly mare Splits whose four foals to race, all by Savabeel, have been successful.
Splits is a sister to the Listed Spring Classic winner Wolfwhistle and they are out of the dual Group 1 winner Legs and also the family of another two-time top-flight winner in Tiptronic.
Synchronize settled toward the back of a small field today before she struck traffic problems before the turn. McNab bided his time and once into the clear the 3-year-old comfortably reeled in her age group rivals for her third win from six appearances.
The Corner with Garry Chittick
Well, I got a bit behind last week, with Friday slipping by without realising it; hence no Corner. I have said on too many occasions that negative messages are of no help to anyone, and yet there seems so often a reason to be concerned. Clearly, this week the well-constructed Guerin Report on the threatened downgrade of our Group 1 races demands our attention.
Read More
Vale Ohope Wins, Ocean Park’s tough, kind and courageous daughter
Long before her Oaks double, Ohope Wins’ greatest victory belonged to the Waikato Stud staff and Matamata Veterinary Services vets who saved her as a desperately sick foal. Taken far too soon at Caulfield, her remarkable story is theirs too.
Read More