Hawke's Bay-owned mare Lady Kipling will be aimed at one of two rich stakes races at the Auckland Christmas-New Year meeting after recording her first black-type success with a decisive length victory in Saturday's Group I $85,000 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa.
The mare's Cambridge trainer, Murray Baker, said this week the Savabeel four-year-old was one of the most improved horses in his stable, with four wins from her last six starts, and he will now aim her at either the Group I $200,000 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day or the Group II $100,000 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) there on New Year's Day.
"It will probably be the Rich Hill Mile but the way she coped under weight-for-age on Saturday we might consider running in the Zabeel Classic," Baker added.
"She is a very good mare and was placed at Group I level last year in the Levin Classic. I thought she was more of a handicap horse and might not be up to weight-for-age but that was a good win on Saturday and she's certainly improved this year."
Lady Kipling now has a record of six wins, a second and two thirds from just 18 starts. She is owned by Havelock North's Laurence Redshaw, in partnership with Gisborne farmer Geoff Candy, and was a $62,500 purchase as a yearling from the Karaka sales.
She won once as a late two-year-old and was successful again in her first start at three. She then went on to record a fast-finishing third behind We Can Say It Now and Blinding in the Group I Levin Classic (1600m) in November of last year and fourth in the Karaka Mile (1600m) at Ellerslie in January.
She won her first two starts this season, on the second and third days of the Hawke's Bay spring carnival, and Saturday's win completed another double after she also took out an open 1600m race at Pukekohe last month. Baker says the key to Lady Kipling's successful run is her ability to now race close to the pace.
"As a three-year-old last year she used to get back and have traffic problems and often got stopped in her tracks. This year she's jumping well, running in the van and then finishing it off."
Lady Kipling was up against a strong field in Saturday's Waikato feature, including the Queensland Oaks-placed Shez Sinsational. She was positioned perfectly in the trail by rider Matthew Cameron and accelerated clear inside the last 300 metres. She's Sinsational started to unwind in the final stages but was still a length in arrears at the line.
Lady Kipling is the 13th stakes winner for the Waikato Stud-based sire Savabeel, who can do little wrong at present. The Cox Plate-winning son of Zabeel has also produced Sangster to win the Group I VRC Derby in Melbourne and Strike the Stars to take the Group III Gloaming Stakes in Sydney in recent weeks. He has a draft of 54 yearlings entered for next month's Karaka yearling sales.
Lady Kipling was bred by Alchemy Family Trust and Windsor Park Stud and is out of the Al Akbar mare Akela.
She was the winner of six races and has also left the winner Kilkenny and the stakes-placed filly Lady Chapel.
Windsor Park Stud will offer a High Chaparral half-sister to Lady Kipling at the Karaka sales.
Top of the classHawke's Bay man Peter Johnstone is enjoying being part of a syndicate racing the promising South Island galloper Voodoo, winner of two of her last three starts.
Johnstone, a school headmaster, had a share in the Hastings-trained Sherwood a couple of seasons ago and that horse managed to win one race.
Voodoo started her racing career in the north and won a maiden at Te Awamutu in October last year. She was transferred to the South Island this year and is now trained by former jockey Mike McCann, who races her in partnership with the Voodoo Syndicate.
Voodoo recorded her second win at Riccarton in October and then added a third success in a Rating 65 2100m race at Ashburton on December 2.