Extra trip ideal for Ocean Park’s son
A step up in distance to 2000 metres was all Roller Coaster required at Coffs Harbour on Friday afternoon to post a deserved victory.
The Paul Shailer-trained son of Ocean Park had been a minor placegetter in his previous two appearances and those efforts saw the Waikato Stud graduate start a warm favourite.
“He has kept improving with each run and this time got to a suitable trip after hitting the line strongly when second at Newcastle,” stable representative Hamish Chapman said.
Roller Coaster, who also benefitted from a 6kg drop in weight, improved from the back near the turn and produced a stout finishing run in the straight for rider Andrew Mallyon to record the fourth win of his career.
He was bought out of Riversley Park’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale draft by Hughes Bloodstock for $80,000 and is out of the late Pins mare Curvy, whose three foals to race have all been successful.
Curvy was from the family of the Australasian and European Group 1 winner and successful sire Starcraft, a star graduate of Waikato Stud.
Sav’s final resting place
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Savabeel: 2001—2026
Savabeel walked through our gates in 2005 and never stopped giving. Twenty-one years on, we said goodbye to our old friend, a horse who didn’t just shape a breeding industry, he defined one. There will never be another quite like him. Rest easy, Sav.
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