Sensational day for Savabeel
Waikato Stud’s pride and joy Savabeel ran riot at Ellerslie on Boxing Day with a black type treble,
including success in the main event with his daughter Concert Hall proving too good in the G1 Zabeel Classic.
Promising colt Brando started the ball rolling with victory in the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes before
Amarelinha was successful in the G2 Eight Carat Classic and then Concert Hall completed a stunning day for the Matamata farm’s champion stallion.
The 6-year-old jogged along at the back of the field and when rider Vinnie Colgan asked her for the
supreme effort she lengthened stride impressively and Roger James was rich in his praise for his
training partner Robert Wellwood and the mare’s breeder-owner Joan Egan.
“Robert deserves it, he’s done the hard yards and I’m proud to have him on my shoulder. He brings a lot of flair and colour and he is dedicated to the industry,” he said.
“It’s the first Group 1 winner Joan has bred and raced and she’s the epitome of the old-fashioned
breeder who thinks of everything before she does her matings, it’s enormous for her,
“It was a good effort because it was a slow tempo and to come from that far off them when they
quickened markedly.
“It might sound cocky, but I spoke to a couple of mates on the way here and strangely enough I said
our best chance was in the Group 1.
“I know you don’t win them out of turn, but the 2000 metres and the good track was always going to
play into her hands.”
Concert Hall is out of the Carnegie mare Classic Legacy, who won four races and is a daughter of the juvenile winner and stakes performer Super Sound.
She is a sister to the multiple black type winner Super Sequel and three-time stakes winner Ultra
Sound, the dam of the dual Group 1 winner Tartan Tights, and a half-sister to the G1 South
Australian Oaks winner Lee’s Bid. She produced the dual Group 1 winner and sire Arena.
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