O’Reilly filly babe upstages age group rivals

27 February 2017

While most eyes were on Love Affair in the three-year-old sprint at Matamata, it was WS’s other runner Babe that claimed the major honours. The former was sent out favourite, but a horror trip from an awkward gate counted the daughter of Savabeel out of contention.

By contrast, the O’Reilly filly Babe enjoyed a sweet trip behind the pace and she rounded off strongly in the straight to score at odds of better than 30-1. She has now won two of her six starts for trainer Graham Richardson, who is aiming to test her at a higher level.

“She’s had a lot of misfortune in her races and then jarred up so we had to tip her out,” he said. “I’d love to get some black type with her and why not. I’ll have a talk to Mark and see if he’s keen for her to go down to Wellington for the Guineas.”

Babe was ridden by Michael McNab and he said the narrow winning margin may have flattered the runner-up. “We ended up in the trail and to her credit – she’s only little – she pushed out and would probably have won a bit easier if she’d had more room.”

Babe is the first foal of the French Deputy mare La Belle Femme, a daughter of the Canadian Group Two winner Going To Extremes.

Back to Savabeel news

Pure Alpha delivers again as Ardrossan continues to rise

Ardrossan gelding Pure Alpha led throughout to win by 1.29 lengths at Eagle Farm for owner Ozzie Kheir, taking his earnings past $300,000. The result caps a stellar run for sire Ardrossan, whose yearlings fetched up to $450,000 this year on strong Hong Kong form.

28 August 2026

The Corner with Garry Chittick

It is difficult to maintain momentum when sitting in judgment of racing’s governance. After all, I get no pleasure in searching for non-credible decisions, but one is perpetually bewildered by the rationale behind many of the positions that make little sense.