Horse racing: Famous colours hit milestone for industry icon Sir Peter Vela

Passiflora and co-trainer Steven Ramsay after their win at Whanganui on Saturday. Photo / Peter Rubery

Steven Ramsay and Julia Ritchie trained their 200th winner in the blue-and-white-hooped colours of owner-breeder Sir Peter Vela when talented filly Passiflora led all the way in Saturday’s Happy Hire 3YO (1200m) at Whanganui.

The Ramsay-Ritchie partnership has now been credited with 200 wins from 1427 runners, with 14 black-type successes including Guiseppina in the Group 1 Telegraph (1200m), Rasa Lila and Dolmabache in the Group 2 Travis Stakes (2000m), and Group Three victories by Amaryllis, Pure Elegance, Rasa Lila and Island Life.

“It’s a real buzz for us to train 200 winners for Sir Peter Vela,” Ramsay said on Saturday. “He and his late brother Philip have given us incredible support through our careers and we’re just so happy to be involved in the team.”

Passiflora has emerged this spring as one of the more promising young members of Ramsay and Ritchie’s Matamata stable. She was a front-running debut winner over 970m on the Cambridge synthetic track on September 10, then ran third behind War Princess and Lubeck in a strong 3-year-old race at Tauranga on November 1.

Saturday’s $40,000 age-group sprint was her third start and she again controlled the race from the front before kicking hard at the home corner. Perfect Habit finished strongly and ate into her margin, but Passiflora refused to let that rival pass. She held on grimly to win by a neck, with two-and-a-half lengths back to the third-placed Our Sniper.

“I thought there would be a bit of speed on, but in the end I got an easy lead and stacked them up a little bit,” winning rider Leah Hemi said. “She kicked away nicely at the turn. She’s a tiny little thing, but she’s got a good attitude.”

Passiflora’s three-start career has produced two wins, a third and $36,960 in stakes.

“She was really good on the synthetic first up, where she jumped and ran and put them away,” Ramsay said. “I think it was quite a tidy field that she came up against at Tauranga the other day, and she boxed on well that day.

“Leah gave her a good ride today and the filly really dug in too. She’s not overly big, but she’s got a bit of class.”

Passiflora comes from the first crop by Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) winner Farnan and is his first New Zealand winner. He has sired a total of 23 winners from 70 runners, including North England, King Of Pop and Recuperato at stakes level.

The dam of Passiflora is Sir Peter Vela’s homebred Charm Spirit mare Lilikoi, who won three races including the Group 3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m). She also placed in the Group 2 Royal Stakes (2000m).

Sir Peter Vela’s Pencarrow Stud will offer a Super Seth half-brother to Passiflora as Lot 522 during Book 1 of Karaka 2026 on January 25 and 26.

– LOVERACING.NZ News Desk