While some New Zealand stables seem to constantly bask in glory when they campaign horses in Australia, the Hastings partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen seems to have a never-ending run of misfortune with the horses they have raced there.
The Lowry/Cullen stable has not made many excursions across the Tasman, but whenever it has gone nothing seems to go right.
Back in 2007 Guy Lowry was training on his own when he took Lilakyn on a hit and run mission for the Group 1 Brisbane Cup. The mare finished second, beaten a nose, with jockey Lisa Cropp giving a victory salute on the line thinking she had won.
In 2013 Lowry and Cullen decided to take Pimms Time across the Tasman for the Group 1 Doomben Cup after she had won the Travis Stakes at Te Rapa. But the mare got caught three-wide from an outside draw in the Brisbane feature and only managed 10th out of 13.
The following year the Lowry/Cullen stable won the Group 1 Telegraph Sprint at Trentham with Irish Fling and decided to take her to Sydney for a crack at the Group 1 Galaxy (1100m). Unfortunately the mare broke down during the running of the race and never raced again.
Their latest mishap was last Saturday when the talented filly Savvy Dreams was a late scratching from the Group 1 $500,000 Australasian Oaks (2010m) at Morphettville, in Adelaide.
The Savabeel filly reared up and flipped over backwards, for no apparent reason, just before she was to be loaded into the barrier for the feature event and was a late scratching.
Fortunately, she was unharmed in the incident but the stewards ordered that she trial to their satisfaction before being able to race again in Australia. That trial took place last Tuesday when she and three other horses were given a run over 1500 metres.
Savvy Dreams behaved perfectly at the barrier and flew the gates to be 10 lengths clear of the other three early on and finished the trial off nicely.
The stewards were happy with her performance, as was co-trainer Grant Cullen and her jockey Paul Gatt.
She is now entered for tomorrow's Group 1 $A600,000 South Australian Derby over 2500m. Paul Gatt has been booked to ride her but, as fate would have it, she has unfortunately drawn one from the outside at the barrier.
Co-trainer Guy Lowry said this week that Savvy Dreams would be allowed to go into the barrier last. She would also have ear covers added to her gear, to minimise the surrounding noise, and will have a pony to lead her around at the start to try and keep her settled.
Lowry added that the plan would be to try and ride the filly quietly in the early stages but said it was not going to be easy from such a wide draw. The biggest fear is that she gets caught three-wide, without cover, and starts to race too keenly in what could be a slowly run race.
"We know she has got the ability but things have just not worked out right for her," Lowry said.
Savvy Dreams has only had six starts for a win, a second and a third and has only once finished further back than fifth. That was in the Group 3 Schweppervesence Stakes (2010m) at Morphettville three weeks ago where the filly only managed 10th after being very slow away, travelling wide in the middle stages, and then suffering interference in the home straight.
Savvy Dreams won on debut in a 1200m maiden race at Hastings on New Year's Day and three races later she finished a close second, beaten a half-head, behind Bonneval in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hastings on March 2.
The tough filly then went to Trentham a fortnight later and turned in another courageous performance for third behind Bonneval and Devise in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). She was then given a week spell before embarking on her Australian trip, which took four days to get to her final destination in Adelaide.
The cost of the trip, with race starts and other expenses, is expected to be close to $30,000.
Savvy Dreams is owned by Cambridge's Tony Rider who has retained a 50 per cent racing share in the filly. The Storming Home Syndicate, which involves a number of Hawke's Bay people, has a 30 per cent racing share while two Napier men, Kelvyn Marshall and Grant Julian, each have a 5 per cent shareholding along with Dannevirke couple Jim and Lynne Small and Hawera-based Wendy Spurdle.
Savvy Dreams had a travelling mate on the trip in stablemate Lamborghini and he has also been unlucky over there.
The Shinko King six-year-old only went down by a neck when finishing second in his Australian debut, over 2010m at Morphettville three weeks ago, and probably would have won had his jockey not become unbalanced and almost unseated over the final stages.
Lamborghini had his second Australian start at Morphettville last Saturday where he finished fifth the $A100,000 Carbine Club Handicap (2010m). He was unsuited by the slow pace in the early stages of the race and was allowed to get too far back. When the sprint finally went on he was left flat-footed but was grinding away well at the finish and ran the second-fastest last 600 metres of the race.
Lamborghini will now contest the Listed $A150,000 Port Adelaide Cup (2500m) at Morphettville on May 20.
Saint Kitt back home
Saint Kitt's southern campaign has ended and the horse was returned to the stable of his Hastings part-owner Kelly Burne this week.
The Keeper seven-year-old only managed ninth in last Saturday's Listed $60,000 Great Autumn Handicap (2500m) at Riccarton but it was only the second time the horse had finished worse than fifth in 12 starts in the South Island since September last year.
Burne trains Saint Kitt and races the horse in partnership with her Perth-based son Vinnie Meenehan. She decided to send the horse south last spring and placed him in the care of Riccarton trainer Pam Robson.
Saint Kitt picked up three wins, three seconds, a third and two fourths while based in the South Island and earned more than $83,000 in stakemoney.
Burne said this week that Saint Kitt will be given a three week spell and then be prepared for another campaign in the spring.
"I couldn't give him more than about three weeks off because he'll put on too much condition," Burne said.
"I'll just turn him out in the paddock and when he starts galloping around there I'll bring him back in."
HB-bred Singapore win
Chopin's Fantaisie, a three-year-old bred by Taupo's Pat Lowry, went some way towards living up to his impeccable breeding with an impressive win in Singapore last Friday night.
The Pins gelding scored a three-quarter length victory in a $S75,000 maiden race over 1100 metres on the polytrack at Kranji in what was his third Singapore start.
Chopin's Fantaisie was sold for $150,000 at the premier session of the 2015 Karaka yearling sales to Singapore trainer Michael Clements.
The horse is a full-brother to the former Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon, winner of 13 races and more than $HK58million between 2010 and 2013.
Both Ambitious Dragon and Chopin's Fantaisie are out of the Oregon mare Golden Gamble, who was unraced but has also left another successful galloper in Hong Kong called Packing Dragon (by Mastercraftsman).
The Hastings training partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen are presently preparing a two-year-old full-sister to Ambitious Dragon and Chopin's Fantaisie. The youngster has not been in their stable long but was given an easy jump-out over 750 metres at Hastings last week and was to have another one today.
Coleman on 1996 wins
Michael Coleman is now only four short of becoming the seventh jockey to reach a magical 2000 wins in New Zealand but will have to wait a couple of weeks before he gets a chance to add to his winning tally.
Coleman, 47, brought up win number 1996 in New Zealand when guiding the talented mare Galaxy Miss to a three-quarter length victory in the Rating 85 race over 1200m at Te Rapa last Saturday.
He was riding under a stay of proceedings that day, after copping a suspension at Te Rapa the previous Saturday, and has now been sidelined from May 6 to May 20 inclusive.
Coleman will join an elite group of New Zealand's most successful riders to have ridden 2000 winners in New Zealand, those being David Walsh, Lance O'Sullivan, David Peake, Bill Skelton, Noel Harris and Chris Johnson.
Byrne on Chocante
Chocante will be ridden by leading Queensland jockey Jim Byrne when the Cambridge gelding makes his Australian debut at Doomben tomorrow.
The Group 3 Counties Cup winner will step out in the Group 3 $A125,000 Chairman's Handicap over 2000 metres.
Trained by Stephen Marsh, Chocante was given a break after his Pukekohe success and was third when resuming at Te Rapa before finishing a close last start seventh in the Group 2 Easter Stakes at Ellerslie. He has drawn barrier eight tomorrow and Marsh is expecting a bold run.
Zambezi Warrior, from the Matamata stable of Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards, will be one of Chocante's race-rivals tomorrow.
The Pentire four-year-old has also had two starts back in a new campaign, with the most recent resulting in a second in the Governor General's Cup (1600m) at Avondale on April 25. He has drawn barrier five and will be ridden by experienced Queensland jockey Jeff Lloyd.