Savabeel colt lifts Derby profile

23 February 2016

Savabeel’s son What’s The Story boosted his Group One hopes with an outstanding effort at Ellerslie on Saturday. The three-year-old showed his quality when he overcame a chequered run to beat the older horses in his middle distance debut.

The colt came off the canvas after he was involved in a skirmish 600 from home to produce a sustained finish for his second career win. “He lost quite a bit of ground so to get up was a massive performance,” trainer Stephen McKee said.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the horse and he’s put his hand up as a Derby type. He’s fit so I’ll just keep him ticking over – we’ve come in through the back door so we’ll see how we go.”

What’s The Story’s New Zealand Derby odds were immediately slashed from $51 to $18 following his latest performance. An $80,000 Karaka yearling, he is out of a Carnegie mare who is a half-sister to the multiple Group One winner Tall Poppy.

Timely pedigree boost

Tilianam did her Karaka-bound brother a massive favour when she produced an impressive winning debut at Canberra yesterday. The Waikato Stud-bred and sold daughter of resident sire Savabeel made her first 2-year-old appearance for Gai …

22 January 2021

Waikato ‘on-the-market’ at Karaka

In an Australasian first, Waikato Stud is offering buyers at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale the ultimate pre-sale insight by disclosing the ‘on-the-market’ price for each yearling on the Kick Sales Platform. Mark Chittick …