Critic makes her mark

21 August 2013

Former top-class WS mare Critic produced her first winner yesterday when Critical Angel broke her maiden on the synthetic track at Geelong. Trained by Peter Moody, the filly had finished runner-up in her juvenile debut last season and was then turned out after one more appearance.

Ridden by Michael Walker, Critical Angel sat in behind the pace and then bolted clear in the straight to win by three lengths. A nomination for the Gr.1 Thousand Guineas, she is raced by Stuart Ramsey’s Turangga Farm and was a $70,000 purchase from WS’s draft during the Premier Session at Karaka in 2012.

Her dam Critic was the winner of the Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA and is from an outstanding WS family. It features Critical Angel’s champion sire O’Reilly and recently crowned New Zealand Horse of the Year Ocean Park, who will stand his first season at the Matamata farm in 2013.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Well, reprimanded I have been. I confess to forgetting about last week’s Corner. At 4pm, it dawned on me I had not put finger to iPad, it was then too late. However, you two need to accept there is not always something worthy of comment. I will endeavour to search deeper into racing’s mysteries to retain your interest.

4 December 2025

La Dorada’s half-brother wins on debut for Yulong

Could Group 1 lightning strike twice? At Geelong on Thursday, 4 December, it was Golden Pulse (Tivaci ex Gold Fever) who made an immediate impression on debut, scoring a decisive two-length win over 1147m in the bottle-green and white colours of Yulong.