No Excuses For Rivals

 

No Excuse Maggie is a true blue WS product and she showed all her fighting qualities to add to her record at Te Rapa on Saturday. The lightly-raced four-year-old was in front a long way from home and showed courage under fire in the straight to hold all challengers at bay.

“We came here chasing the money and we’ve always rated this mare,” Hastings trainer John Bary said. The grey daughter of resident stallion No Excuse Needed has now won two of her eight starts and her northern success in trying underfoot conditions underlined her versatility after posting her maiden victory on top of the ground.

“Nobody wanted to lead and at the 600 I got her rolling forward,” promising apprentice Rory Hutchings said. “It was a slow pace and she travelled well and she just kept fighting on the whole way up the straight.” Raced by Gisborne owners Howard and Kay Jones, the WS-bred No Excuse Maggie is the first foal of the O’Reilly mare Maggie O’Reilly.

She is a three-quarter sister to the dam of the Gr 3 Mannerism Stakes winner Tootsie (Pins) who also finished runner-up in the Gr 1 Telegraph Handicap. It is a branch of the outstanding WS family that features the multiple Gr 1 winners Glamour Puss (Good Handicap, Salinger Stakes) and Vision And Power (Doncaster Handicap, George Ryder Stakes).