Emotional win for stud in Foxbridge

Emotions ran high after the running of the Gr 3 Lisa Chittick Foxbridge Plate at Te Rapa yesterday following the highly-sentimental victory of I Do. The top-class mare was a commanding winner of the feature in the colours of Waikato Stud.

The home-bred daughter of No Excuse Needed provided a moving result for co-owner and stud principal Mark Chittick, who tragically lost his wife Lisa to leukaemia earlier this year. His partner in I Do is trainer Allan Sharrock, who succinctly summed up proceedings. “It’s pretty special and we might have had some help from above,” he said. “Lisa was a lovely lady.”

Due to be served in the spring by Savabeel, I Do is now likely to be given the coveted opportunity to add a Group One credit to her resume at Hastings in a fortnight. “Mark’s keen on the Makfi and as long as we get conditions to suit we’ll head there,” Sharrock said. She is now the $6 pre-post favourite for the opening leg of the Triple Crown series.

I Do settled off the pace at Te Rapa, but when rider Opie Bosson made his move in the straight the response was electric and the race quickly in safe keeping. “Her work suggested she would win, but you can never be comfortable when there are Group One winners in the field,” Sharrock said.

I Do powered clear to win by two and a-half lengths for the 14th win of her career. “She missed the kick a fraction and we were two or three lengths off where I wanted to be,” Bosson said. “She tracked into the race and really let down. She loves racing and knows how to attack the line.”