Super Savabeel dominates proceedings again
Savabeel took centre stage at the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Awards with another clean sweep in the stallion division.
The Waikato Stud resident won the Grosvenor Award for a sixth consecutive season and his fifth Dewar and Centaine titles.
No New Zealand based stallion in the modern era comes anywhere close to achieving matching Savabeel’s achievements.
The Grosvenor Award is based on progeny earnings, the Dewar on combined Australian and New Zealand progeny earnings and the Centaine for combined progeny earnings worldwide.
Waikato Stud was also the fore when its home-bred Madison County was a dominant winner of the Champion Three-Year-Old Award.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained son of Pins won all but one of the 59 votes available.
Madison Country claimed the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the Gr.1 Levin Classic before embarking on an Australia campaign.
He finished fourth in the Gr.1 Randwick Guineas and was then runner-up in the Gr.2 Tulloch Stakes and in the Gr.1 Australian Derby.
The Corner with Garry Chittick
Well, it was finally our turn. Mary and I shared in the joy of winning a race; we were there, of course. We could have settled in, in front of the TV – not driven the 50 minutes each way, but the emotions are entirely different.
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Smart Love too smart this start
Smart Love (Savabeel ex Relentless Desire) made a winning return at Te Rapa on 14 September, storming home by 3.3 lengths. Racing in Garry Chittick’s colours, the four-year-old mare impressed for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott after two solid trials.
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