Placed To Perfection Over Ground

28 January 2012

Placement made an overdue return to winning form in Melbourne this afternoon when successful at the Sandown meeting. It was the daughter of Savabeel’s second win but that record doesn’t accurately reflect her ability.

Bred and sold by WS, she was placed in the Gr 1 VRC Oaks, the Gr 2 Wakeful Stakes and the Listed Sporting Bet Stakes before she had broken her maiden. The four-year-old has continued to race consistently and fully appreciated the step up to 2100 metres today for trainer Danny O’Brien.

He purchased the mare out of WS’s 2009 consignment to the Sydney Easter Yearling Sale for $A65,000. She is out of the O’Reilly mare Lucida who is a daughter of the dual Gr 3 Gold Trail and Lowland Stakes winner Starcent. The Centaine mare also finished runner-up at the top level in the NZ 1000 Guineas and Levin Classic

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Well, I got a bit behind last week, with Friday slipping by without realising it; hence no Corner. I have said on too many occasions that negative messages are of no help to anyone, and yet there seems so often a reason to be concerned. Clearly, this week the well-constructed Guerin Report on the threatened downgrade of our Group 1 races demands our attention.

21 October 2026

Vale Ohope Wins, Ocean Park’s tough, kind and courageous daughter

Long before her Oaks double, Ohope Wins’ greatest victory belonged to the Waikato Stud staff and Matamata Veterinary Services vets who saved her as a desperately sick foal. Taken far too soon at Caulfield, her remarkable story is theirs too.