Savabeel colt too sharp in Slipper

Well-related youngster Savaglee comfortably accounted for a small but select line-up of two-year-olds at Matamata on Saturday afternoon.

The precocious son of Savabeel was in sparkling form on his home track where the Michael Moroney and Pam Gerard representative was a stylish winner of the G3 Matamata Slipper over 1200 metres.

Savaglee followed the pace on the fence and, when he worked into the clear in the straight, showed sharp acceleration to mow down Super Seth’s frontrunning son Poetic Champion.

“He was really good and had a good turn of foot. He travelled beautifully on the bit and did everything really well,” successful rider Sam Spratt said.

The Waikato Stud-bred and sold colt’s odds for the upcoming G1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie were cut to $6 in the wake of his second victory from five appearances and came off the back of a luckless fifth in the Karaka Millions.

“He’s a Savabeel colt that is still getting there, but he’s shown very good ability. He learned a lot from Karaka Millions night and sat beautifully before showing a really good turn of foot today,” Gerard said.

“We can’t wait to get him up over 1400 metres and hopefully keep the good results coming.” Savaglee was purchased out of breeder Waikato Stud’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale for $400,000 by The Oaks Stud.

“It great to win a stakes race here at Matamata, especially being a colt and winning what has become a stallion-making race,” The Oaks General Manager Rick Williams said.

“We paid a lot of money for him, he’s a lovely horse and Sam gave him a great ride.”

Savaglee is a son of the O’Reilly mare Glee who is from a potent family, which includes rising star Orchestral, and is out of a half-sister to the G1 Ellerslie Sires’ Produce S. winner Good Faith.

The pedigree also features the Matamata farm’s Group 1-winning graduates Daffodil, Aegon and Atishu.

Glee produced a sister last season to Savaglee and is back in foal to Savabeel.