Can I Get An Amen (left) holds off the challenge of Burgundy Rose in the final stages of last Saturday's Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m) at Trentham.
A plan hatched between four people at a Queenstown charity auction six years ago reached fruition at Trentham last Saturday when Hastings-trained Can I Get An Amen chalked up her first black type success.
The five-year-old Hallowed Crown mare, prepared by the partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, capped off some excellent lead-up runs with a well-deserved Listed stakes win in the $60,000 Lightning Handicap (1200m) at Trentham.
Can I Get An Amen is owned by prominent Cambridge owner-breeder Tony Rider in partnership with three Auckland people, Rayna and Lyn Bonnington and Peter Jeffares.
The four friends were seated around the same table at a special charity auction in Queenstown in 2015, a fundraising event for The CatWalk Trust which is an organisation concentrating on spinal cord injury research.
A service fee to the Australian-based sire Hallowed Crown had been donated for the auction and the quartet decided to bid on it.
Their final bid was successful but the Bonningtons and Jeffares didn't have a mare to mate with the stallion so Rider offered them one. He owned the Sudurka mare Brianna and said he would join the partnership and mate the mare with Hallowed Crown.
Can I Get An Amen was the resultant foal and she has since built a record of four wins, five seconds, three thirds and three fourths from 19 race starts and has amassed more than $100,000 in stakemoney.
That record should read even better as she has been unlucky, when narrowly beaten, on several occasions.
Her success last Saturday was a great training feat by the Lowry/Cullen stable as she was having her first start for two months, coming off a fourth placing in the Group One Telegraph Sprint (1200m) at Trentham in mid-January.
Two of the horses that finished in front of her in the Telegraph were Roch 'N' Horse and Levante and they went on to finish first and fourth respectively in the Group One Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington, in Melbourne, two weeks ago.
With that form it was little wonder Can I Get An Amen started favourite for the Lightning and she produced a gutsy performance to win, taking the lead early in the long Trentham straight and staving off all challengers in the run to the line.
Hawke's Bay jockey Kate Hercock took the mount on Can I Get An Amen and had the mare handily positioned behind the leaders coming to the junction on to the course proper before angling into the centre of the track to make her challenge.
Can I Get An Amen gained a clear advantage at the 250m and, in a driving finish, she defeated Burgundy Rose by a short neck, with Cavallo Veloce 1-3/4 lengths back in third.
Hercock acknowledged some valuable advice from fellow jockey Danielle Johnson before the race, with the latter recovering from a broken leg suffered at Ellerslie on New Year's Day. She had been aboard Can I Get An Amen in two of her three previous wins.
"On the way to the races I rang Danielle Johnson and spoke to her about a couple of my rides, so thanks Dani," Hercock said.
Hercock said Can I Get An Amen travelled a lot keener in the running than she thought she would, but that was probably because she was so fresh.
"During her jumpouts and trials she settled nicely, but she was really keen and when I got to the top of the straight I thought I might have gone a bit too soon.
"She just wouldn't lie down though."
The race was marred when jockey Sarah Macnab took a nasty fall about 50m from the finish. She was trying to push her mount Scotch through a gap between Can I Get An Amen and Burgundy Rose when the gelding was suddenly tightened for room, clipped a heel and blundered.
Macnab took a heavy fall and was transported to hospital. She suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken bone in her arm.
Can I Get An Amen's rider Kate Hercock admitted a charge of careless riding in that she permitted her mount to shift inwards when not sufficiently clear of Scotch and was suspended for four weeks, until the conclusion of racing on April 24.
Kosi Asano, the rider of Burgundy Rose, also admitted a charge of careless riding in that he allowed his mount to shift outwards when not sufficiently clear of Scotch and was also suspended for a month, until the conclusion of racing on April 23.
Co-trainer Guy Lowry had been expecting a good showing from Can I Get An Amen as the mare had performed well in a fresh state in the past, although he acknowledged the weight of expectations given the mare's lead-up form.
"There was a little bit of pressure," he said.
"She has won well and it is nice to get black type with these very valuable mares, so we are very happy."
Lowry said this week that Can I Get An Amen has come through the race well and will have her next start on her home track, in the Listed $60,000 PowerTurf Sprint (1200m) at the Hawke's Bay Cup meeting on April 16.
"She will then go to Rotorua on May 14 for a Group Three weight-for-age race for fillies and mares over 1400m and will then be spelled," Lowry said.
"She will be aimed at the Group Three Stewards Stakes at Riccarton next season and then hopefully go to Australia for a race like the Standish Handicap over 1200m at Flemington in mid-January.
"We want to try to further her value as a broodmare and some Aussie black type would certainly do that."
Can I Get An Amen's sire Hallowed Crown is a son of Street Sense and stands at Twin Hills Stud in New South Wales. He is also the sire of dual Group One winner Collette and Big Hearted, winner of the Group One Singapore Cup.
Brianna, the dam of Can I Get An Amen, was the winner of five races from only 23 starts, including one at Listed stakes level. She also finished third in the 2008 Group One Railway Stakes (1200m) at Ellerslie.
Wedding bells for injured jockey
Multiple Group race winning jockey Sarah Macnab is counting herself fortunate, despite suffering serious injuries in a race fall at Trentham last Saturday.
Macnab hit the turf in the closing stages of the Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m) when her mount Scotch clipped heels and blundered.
The 22-year-old, who suffered a dislocated shoulder and a broken bone in her arm, now faces up to six weeks on the sideline but can at least fulfil a major life-changing event planned for March 26.
"It could have been so much worse so I'm happy with the outcome. I was very lucky and I'm getting married on Saturday in Wanganui so that will keep me entertained," Macnab said earlier this week.
She will tie the knot with fellow jockey Sam O'Malley with the couple set to make their home in Marton and the challenge of fitting into her wedding dress with her injuries won't be taking the smile off her face.
"It shouldn't be too bad — I've dealt with a lot worse. I'm a bit sore, but that is to be expected."
Macnab was discharged from Upper Hutt hospital last Saturday night and then went for a check-up at Wanganui hospital on Monday. She has been advised her injuries are unlikely to require surgery.
"They want me to be in a sling for four weeks and then it should be okay. I'm hoping to be back in five to six weeks because, at this stage, I don't need an operation as the bone is sitting where it should be," she added.
Macnab has ridden 37 winners this season, including the Group Three New Zealand Cup (3200m) aboard Mondorani for trainer Kevin Myers, with whom she served her apprenticeship. She also won the Group Three Gold Trial Stakes (1200m) at Hastings on Bellaconte.
She also finished a close second aboard Spring Tide in the Group One Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings in September, in her first ride at the elite level.
Macnab has ridden a total of 157 winners so far in a career that was severely interrupted in 2018 when she sustained serious head injuries in a race fall at Woodville.
She is from a successful racing family and made an impact early on as an amateur rider, winning both the Duke Of Gloucester Cup and the Flair Amateur Jockey Series, while still at secondary school.
Karaka sales back to January
After careful thought and consideration, New Zealand Bloodstock has decided to stage its Karaka 2023 National Yearling Sales series in the traditional selling month of January.
This year's sales series was staged earlier this month but NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook said, after analysing feedback from both vendors and buyers, January stood out as the obvious time to sell.
"Thought had been given to making the move to March permanent, however it is such a congested time of the year with Australian sales and racing," he said.
"A post-sale canvass of some key Australian buyers supports our view that a January sale will be more beneficial to New Zealand Bloodstock, its vendors and buyers.
"We believe we will get more Australians to a sale in January, whilst at the same time having the advantage of being the second, rather than sixth, yearling sale in the season.
"From a logistical perspective, we received a lot of feedback from our vendors that it is far easier to get staff in January than in Mach, and of course, it's beneficial having the Karaka Million Twilight race meeting as an entrée to the week of selling."