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.

G3 TAB Mile trifecta for Waikato sires

Recording his first Group victory, and second at black-type level after success in the Listed Lindauer Stewards Stakes some 12 months back, Ocean Park gelding Mystic Park led home an impressive one-two-three result for the Waikato stallions, defeating Sir Albert (Savabeel) and Cannon Hill (Ardrossan) in Wednesday’s Gr.3 TAB Mile (1600m) at Riccarton Park.

12 November 2025

The Corner with Garry Chittick

Sometimes you wonder, other times you realise what’s the point. We have two new Board members to help guide Thoroughbred Racing to a brighter, more enlightened future. Now, I don’t know either, and I am sure they have been confirmed for the right reasons – I think my concern is where is it our leaders believe they are taking us.