Star colt Savaglee will be given the opportunity to maximise his stallion potential on Australian soil in the autumn and will take his first steps toward that goal on his home track.
The Pam Gerard-trained son of Savabeel enjoyed time out at owner Dick Karreman’s The Oaks Stud following his Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) heroics and will be ready to trial at Matamata on Friday week.
Autumn Australian targets are in the offing for Group One winner Savaglee. Photo: Race Images South
“He had two weeks back here and he’s back in the stable now,” The Oaks General Manager Rick Williams said.
“There are two trials before the races at Matamata over 1100m for Group and Listed horses and he’ll be in one of those for sure. All the reports on him are very positive.”
Safely through his upcoming hit-out, a Trentham restart next month is on the cards for the six-time winner.
“He could kick off in the Levin Classic (Gr.2, 1400m) on January 11 and then we’ve got a whole lot of different choices to make,” Williams said.
“It’s one step at a time and whether we go two weeks later for the Karaka Million (1600m) or wait and take on the older horses in the weight-for-age race (Gr.1 BCD Group Sprint, 1400m), we’ll just wait and see how he’s doing.
“The Levin Classic is only a Group Two now, but it’s set weights, so he’s not penalised against his own age, that’s the attraction.”
Savaglee has already been the subject of overseas interest, but the focus is solely on a crack at the Gr.1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington
“Dick turned down a big offer and he’s very keen to roll the dice a bit further with this horse, so the plan is to go and race him until the Guineas,” Williams said.
“At this stage, the horse is on an upward spiral and with each race he seems to get better so we’re in no hurry to retire him, but with stallion prospects it’s a race-by-race proposition.”
The Oaks, which is currently on the market, is also looking forward to the autumn with younger female members of the racing stable.
“I think we’ll have a very nice team of autumn fillies, the one with Stephen Marsh (The Trendsetter) that just got beaten at Te Aroha will go to the Royal Stakes (Gr.2, 2000m) and then toward the Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m),” Williams said.
“An unraced filly I really like with Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray is called Alaskan, she’s by Niagara.
“She’ll run in a maiden mile at Matamata and she looks an out and out stayer and hopefully will go toward the Oaks as well.
“It’s early days, but I’m really happy with the way the racing team is shaping for the autumn and they’re chances to show up and a lot of them will be trialling at Pukekohe next Tuesday.
“There’s another one with Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott that I really like, a Darci Brahma filly called Cypher, so we’ve got a few to come up.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
