Success for Waikato Stud stallions
Savabeel and Ocean Park both made their presences felt on Oaks day at Flemington.
The former’s son Savaheat continued his rich run of form to strike in the opening event..
The five-year-old came with a well-timed finish in Michael Dee’s hands to score over 1800 metres.
Trained by Mick Price and Michael Kent junior, he has now won three of his last four starts.
Savaheat was a $220,000 Karaka purchase and is out of the Green Desert mare Heat Storm.
The dam is a half-sister to the dual Group Three winner Hume.
Ocean Park four-year-old Bumper Blast trumped his rivals in the contest restricted to greys.
He has been patiently handled by Group One winning trainer Robert Hickmott and the rewards are now flowing.
Bumper Blast sat back and unleashed powerfully for rider Craig Williams for the second win of his three-start career.
“He’s a nice progressive horse and fantastic to have one like him,” Hickmott said.
Sav’s final resting place
“I’ve got a couple of very special bottles of wine that I’ve had for a number of years, and usually they would have been opened on a celebration, but I thought it was very pertinent, and well, it was a celebration, it was a celebration of his life,” Mark Chittick told The Straight.
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Savabeel: 2001—2026
Savabeel walked through our gates in 2005 and never stopped giving. Twenty-one years on, we said goodbye to our old friend, a horse who didn’t just shape a breeding industry, he defined one. There will never be another quite like him. Rest easy, Sav.
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