Talented splurge continues winning form

Progressive galloper Splurge is in line for a crack at stakes company after striking again at Ellerslie on Saturday. The gifted son of Savabeel posted his fifth win, and the third of his current campaign, when he downed the Rating 85 sprinters in the hands of Danielle Johnson.

The WS-bred and sold four-year-old settled close to the pace in a small field and responded strongly when asked a serious question in the straight. “He continues to step up every time he goes to the races,” said Jamie Richards, who trains in partnership with Stephen Autridge. “He closed strongly and that’s the sign of a good horse. He’s only lightly-tried and we might look at going straight to the Darley Plate now.”

The good-looking Splurge has only been beaten once this time in when he finished second, after an awkward start, at his previous appearance. “He was a bit stiff at Trentham, but he’s got the job done well here,” Richards said.

Splurge was purchased out of WS’s 2014 Premier Sale draft for $500,000 by Te Akau principal David Ellis. He is out of the O’Reilly mare Splashing Out, who is a three-quarter sister to the multiple Group One winner and resident WS stallion Sacred Falls, a Group Three winner and Group One placed in Australia and also the dam of the Group Two winner Shopaholic.