I Do set for Captain Cook

I Do’s connections have a Group One target set for the ultra-consistent mare to further enhance her future value. Co-breeder and owners Mark Chittick and trainer Allan Sharrock have targeted a December feature at Trentham for the daughter of No Excuse Needed.

“Mark and I know she might be a length off the best, but we’re keen to have a crack at the Captain Cook Stakes,” Sharrock said. “She’ll run in the open sprint at Manawatu in three weeks’ time and there’s a sprint two weeks after that if she needs another one before the Captain Cook. If she can run a place in that it will help her in the breeding paddock. At set weights she might be battling against Mufhasa and Nashville, if he comes back, but you never know.”

I Do has been a model of consistency throughout her career with seven wins and 12 placings from 23 starts, with a Listed Rotorua Stakes victory featuring on her CV. “She’s never failed to bat up for us and she’s had a fifth, twice (when unplaced) she had a virus and once I backed her up too quickly,” Sharrock said.

The six-year-old was back in action at Hawera last Saturday and didn’t disappoint with a gallant run for second in the Gr 3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes behind Postmans Daughter. “She’s a bonny mare and Jonathan (Riddell) gave her a 10 out of 10 ride and she was beaten by a top mare and a fitter horse on the day,” Sharrock said. “I couldn’t have done any more and we came up three-quarters of a length short.”