Age no barrier to head spin’s success

13 November 2015

Black type aspirant Head Spin has struck another winning blow against older opposition. The three-year-old progressed from a maiden success last month to a comfortable Rating 65 victory at Dargavile this afternoon.

A daughter of Pins, she sat close to the pace before rider Sam Collett peeled three wide into the straight. Head Spin led over the closing 200 metres to post her second win from five starts.

Trainer Peter Lock is now keen to test the filly against the best of her age group. “She’s always showed she wants to go further so we will press on toward the staying races and hopefully she keeps improving,” the Te Aroha-based horseman trainer said. The Gr 1 New Zealand Oaks at Trentham is the long-term target.

Bred by WS who have remained in the ownership, Head Spin is out of the Tale Of The Cat mare Heads Or Tales. She is a half-sister to Good Faith (Gr 1 Ellerslie Sires’ Produce Stakes) and the family of triple top-flight winner Daffodil (AJC Oaks, NZ 1000 Guineas, Windsor Park Plate).

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.