Shopaholic Makes Dream Come True

21 February 2012

When South Island breeders Grant and Philippa McKenzie decided on a short trip to Melbourne, they never dreamt they would end up on the dais at Flemington.

“We decided to head to Melbourne to see Rod Stewart and Black Caviar. So I rang my good friend Mark Chittick of Waikato Stud to see if he knew how we might go about getting some tickets for Flemington,” said Grant.

“Well, he got back to me and said he had jacked up some tickets and that he hoped we would bring him luck, as we would actually be representing Waikato Stud as the owners of Shopaholic (Pins) in the Gr.3 Vanity.”

Haven placed second in the race with Do Ra Mi (Savabeel) and Be Delicious (Danasinga), the McKenzie’s delivered this luck in spades for Waikato.

“It was a great run,” observed Grant.

“She was being hammered from the $1.40 hotpot Mosheen on one side and from Angel of Mercy on the other, but in that final 100m Shopaholic just bullocked her way through and got up in the very last stride.”

As the successful owners of the Gr.3 Wakefield Challenge Stakes winner Zablinka (Zabeel), the occasion was not lost on the McKenzie’s.

“I never dreamt that on our first trip to Flemington, we would see Black Caviar win one of her best, or end up on the dais accepting a trophy and sipping champagne in the Presidents Lounge!”

“To be honest, we felt very privileged to simply be in the parade ring before the race, let alone in the winner’s circle. It was a bit of a dream really”.

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.

5 August 2026

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.