Rudyard in top form for Group 3 test
Ever reliable four-year-old Rudyard produced a flawless dress rehearsal for an upcoming
stakes challenge with victory at Pukekohe Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Tony Pike-trained son of Charm Spirit was successful in the open sprint over 1300
metres, initially dead-heating for first before he was awarded the race on his own after a subsequent inquiry.
Rudyard settled midfield off the fence for apprentice Lily Sutherland and finished strongly in the run home, despite being inconvenienced by a wayward runner on his outside.
“He’s gone to a new level this preparation and we were looking at going down to Trentham, but stayed closer to home and he’ll run in the Easter Handicap (G3, 1600m) in a fortnight,” Pike said.
He has now amassed four wins and five minor place finishes from his nine runs this time in.
Part-owned by Waikato Stud, Rudyard is a son of Savabeel’s dual Group 2-winning daughter Lady Kipling and was purchased by Pike for $280,000 out of Windsor Park Stud’s draft at Karaka.
The Corner with Garry Chittick
It would appear I now have to continue my weekly Corner with the amount of rumblings at the start of our new racing season. I have been around long enough to know we can never please all; my tenure as Chairman of the Racing Board was subjected to as much vitriol as subsequent Boards have had to bear, so what’s different this time, or is it different.
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First foal for Waikato’s Group 1 winner Skew Wiff
Group 1-winning Savabeel mare Skew Wiff (ex Starvoia), known affectionately as ‘Wiffy’, foaled a filly by Super Seth in the early hours of Wednesday, 5 August.
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