Lovaci headed to stakes company

A well-related mare added winning momentum toward her bid for higher honours when she romped to victory at Tauranga on Friday afternoon.

The Stephen Marsh-trained Waikato Stud graduate Lovaci was given a dream ride in the trail by Courtney Barnes and accelerated quickly along the fence in the straight to score by 2.8 lengths.

“She’s beautifully bred on the dam’s side and I think she can go one to get some black type,” Marsh said.

He went to $280,000 at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale to secure Lovaci, whose dam Loveable is a half-sister to the late multiple Group 1 winner and successful sire Sacred Falls.

Other notable family members include the Group winners Splurge, Shopaholic, Splashing Out, Packing Pins and Milford.

Lovaci cleared the gates quickly to sit in third spot on the rail and the four-year-old finished off in style in the run home to take her record to a brace of wins and five placings from eight appearances.

“It was a beautiful ride, she hasn’t been the easiest of mares, and Courtney does a lot of work for us so I love to see her riding winners,” Marsh said.