Trainer raising the bar for talented filly

16 February 2015

Ron Gussey is considering a Group Three test for his smart filly Midnight Mistress during the upcoming Auckland Cup carnival. The Avondale trainer’s confidence was boosted at Ellerslie this afternoon when his three-year-old went back to back with a strong winning performance in the Rating 65 sprint.

WS graduate Midnight Mistress beat a subsequent winner in Fully Funded on her home track last month and she has handled another rise in class with ease. She ran out the 1200 metres powerfully, prompting connections to eye the Westbury Stud Classic (1400m) on March 4.

“She’ll have one more run and then a spell – the further she goes the better she will be,” Gussey said. By Savabeel, she is out of the Listed Castletown Stakes winner Vera Pro Gratis, a daughter of the dual Gr 3 Cornwall Handicap and Rotorua Cup winner Nat The Brat.

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Well, I got a bit behind last week, with Friday slipping by without realising it; hence no Corner. I have said on too many occasions that negative messages are of no help to anyone, and yet there seems so often a reason to be concerned. Clearly, this week the well-constructed Guerin Report on the threatened downgrade of our Group 1 races demands our attention.

21 October 2026

Vale Ohope Wins, Ocean Park’s tough, kind and courageous daughter

Long before her Oaks double, Ohope Wins’ greatest victory belonged to the Waikato Stud staff and Matamata Veterinary Services vets who saved her as a desperately sick foal. Taken far too soon at Caulfield, her remarkable story is theirs too.