Patience rewarded with panna cotta

9 March 2015

Pins mare Panna Cotta put a number of issues behind her when she won the closing event of the Auckland Cup carnival on Saturday. The four-year-old showed her true worth with a gritty defeat of the Rating 65 sprinters for the third win of her career.

Bred by WS, the mare is raced by a syndicate that includes Mark Chittick and Mapperley Stud’s Simms Davison. “She’s always showed a fair bit, but she’s had some problems and a niggling cough,” trainer Stephen Marsh said. “The owners have been very patient and there’s a few more wins in her yet.”

Panna Cotta is out of the winning O’Reilly mare Vanilla Sky, who has been a good producer at stud. She is also the dam of the Listed Lion Red Plate winner and Group One performer Raid (Pins) and Lapel (Pins), the winner of eight races in Australia.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

No Corner last week; this week the Annual Thoroughbred Racing Awards night certainly deserves acknowledgment. It is the second of two nights of measurement of Thoroughbred achievements for the year, with the first focussing on our Breeders’ awards.

9 September 2026

Savabeel’s Group 1 daughter Belle Cheval retired

Belle Cheval, by champion sire Savabeel, enjoyed a stellar career: placing in the NZ 1000 Guineas, winning the Almanzor Trophy and Uncle Remus Stakes, finishing second in The Kiwi, then claiming Group 1 glory in Australia’s Vinery Stud Stakes before retiring to broodmare duties.