Savabeel mare raises the bar
 
          
          Concert Hall was set a challenge at Trentham on Saturday and the Savabeel mare rose to the occasion in terrific fashion.
In her first black type outing this preparation, she came from the back of the field to easily land the Gr. 3 Cuddle Stakes.
“It was a step up, but she had been pretty dominant in the lower grades,” said Roger James, who trains with Robert Wellwood.
“That was a bit special. She was last for a lot of the race so it was a super effort. There was true pace and that helped”
James said consideration would be given to a start in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Te Aroha.
Concert Hall is now the winner of five of her nine starts for owner Joan Egan.
“It’s wonderful for Joan. She’s a passionate breeder and has had the family for a long time,” James said.
Concert Hall is out of the Carnegie mare Classic Legacy, who was successful on four occasions.
She is from the family of the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks and Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas winner Tartan Heights.
Concert Hall is Savabeel’s 88th individual Stakes winner and is his 17th Stakes winner this season.
 
                      
                      The Corner with Garry Chittick
I keep on proposing my retirement from the burden of a weekly Corner. I make the excuse it is hard to be credible, hard to let the two of you know about anything in our sport that hasn’t been covered before.
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                      WS-bred On The Lash scores at Sha Tin
Twenty-four hours following the final WS Cox Plate meeting run on the Moonee Valley track of old before it shuts for two years to make way for a new precinct, the race’s 2004 winner, Savabeel, continued his roll of runners, and this time it was via five-year-old On The Lash (ex Candelabra) at Sha Tin.
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