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

The writing of my Corner started many years ago, motivated by an irritation that I felt needed scratching. It was never my intention to make my commentary regular; neither did I intend to reinvent the direction of racing administration. It is both disappointing and ironical that what should be a simple, straightforward business provides a regular need for comment.

27 October 2026

Ocean Park’s With Grace seals NZ Cup berth

South Auckland mare With Grace secured her berth in next month’s Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton when extending her winning sequence to four with victory in the Baker Tilly Staples Rodway 2100 at Te Rapa on Labour Day Monday.