Time best friend of Savabeel mare

Valentino's On (NZ) ridden by Ben Allen wins the Sportsbet Take A Sec Before You Bet BM58 Handicap at Sportsbet-Ballarat Synthetic Racecourse on August 31, 2021 in Ballarat, Australia. (Pat Scala/Racing Photos)

Valentino’s On was a slow burner, but the Waikato Stud-bred and raced mare has caught fire this preparation.

The daughter of Savabeel had Ballarat trainer Henry Dwyer wondering about her long-term future last season and words of encouragement from Mark Chittick to press on have proved prophetic.

Chittick told Dwyer the mare was from a slow maturing family and urged him to give her more time, and now as a 4-year-old she is fulfilling her potential.

Valentino’s On failed to hit the top three in a handful of starts during her first preparation, but following a break she bolted in at Ballarat earlier this month and struck another winning blow on the course yesterday.

She is a daughter of the O’Reilly mare Oh So Glam, who is a half-sister to the multiple Group 1 winners Glamour Puss and Vision And Power.

Oh So Glam’s sister Rare Insight, winner of the G2 Stan Fox S., produced the G1 Coolmore Classic winner Steps In Time while the G2 Thousand Guineas Prelude winner Acting and the G3 Eulogy S. winner Whimsical are also members of this family.

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