Brave Saavoya sparkles in Eight Carat

Saavoya showed admirable fighting qualities to land the Gr 2 Cambridge Stud Eight Carat Classic at Ellerslie this afternoon. The three-year-old made up for a luckless fifth placing in her lead-up with a gritty display for rider Craig Grylls.

“It’s a great result and she’s very tough – a real Savabeel,” co-trainer Andrew Forsman said. “She is a very good filly but you just didn’t know how the form would stack up given she hadn’t raced against most of these before. She was desperately unlucky at her last run and had thrived leading into today, but I thought she might be the one to get the worst run given the barrier draws of the three we had in the race.”

Saavoya has now won two of her seven starts and a record she will attempt to improve on in the Gr 2 Royal Stakes on New Year’s Day. “She’s looking for further and that showed at the finish as she was strong to the line,” Forsman said.

A sibling to two winners, Saavoya is out of the Prized mare Royal Prize and is a grand-daughter of the Gr 1 Avondale Cup winner Eva Grace. Savabeel has now sired six stakes winners this season, including the Group One winners Soriano, Lucia Valentina and Costume.