Snazzytavi wins the Livamol. Photo / Kenton Wright.
A miracle ride from Warren Kennedy helped Snazzytavi destroy her Group 1 rivals at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The lightly raced mare exploded clear over the last 100m of the $550,000 Livamol Classic, a race transferred from its usual home at Hastings.
Kennedy went into the race concerned by Snazzytavi’s wide draw and hoping he could get her midfield following the right horse without stirring her up too much.
They don’t call him the Wizard Of Waz for nothing.
He pushed the button on Snazzytavi from barrier 15 and managed to settle midfield with the two other favourites Campionessa and One Bold Cat just in front of her.
She tracked them into the race and stamped herself a serious Group 1 player by storming to a three-and-a-half length victory, one of the easiest weight-for-age middle-distance wins in New Zealand in recent years.
Her win continued a great record in elite races in the last few years for trainers Graham Richardson and Rogan Norvall.
The pair had been concerned about the possibility of a wet track but the rain forecast in the 24 hours before the race didn’t come and while Te Rapa started the day a Soft 7 it improved to be rated a 6 and raced even better.
Snazzytavi may have benefitted from a great ride and having had a less interrupted preparation than her rivals who went to one of the abandoned Hastings meetings.
But it also may not have mattered. She was so dominant at just her 13th start she could be a Group 1 force in any race here over the next two seasons and even worth taking to Australia.
She will eventually add to a wonderful broodmare band at Cambridge Stud for owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay, who have revitalised the broodmare stocks at the famous farm.
Hi Yo Sass Bomb went the race of her life in second for trainer Kim Reid while veteran No Compromise ran on well for third.
Favourite Campionessa looked a winning chance at the 300m but peaked late, a victim of her forced yet unsuitable preparation while One Bold Cat raced flatter than he did when winning the Arrowfield 10 days ago.
The win was one of three for Kennedy yesterday, all on mares, as he also guided Sassy Lass and Lux Libertas to victories for the O’Sullivan/Scott stable.
Earlier in the day, Kitty Flash looked a 1000 Guineas contender leading throughout to win a strong three-year-old opening race.
“She was very sharp today and did it nicely,” Forsman said.
“We’ve always held an opinion of her as she has showed such good ability from the moment she entered the stable.
“She got a nice pull in the weights today and the ability to race on speed was in her favour, but you still have to be good enough to put yourself there, and she was.”
Forsman will now put the finishing touches on a plan to get Kitty Flash to the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton on November 16.
“Riccarton has always been our target and she showed today she is going the right way to be a big chance in the race,” he said.
“She will have one more run before we head south but whether that is in the Soliloquy at Ellerslie or the Sarten Memorial at Te Rapa is the choice we have to make.”
TAB Bookmakers were suitably impressed by the run and have Kitty Flash listed as the $10 equal third favourite behind Alabama Lass and Captured By Love, who sit at the top of the 1000 Guineas market at $3.
In the feature sprint Spencer, the find of the winter sprinting ranks, showed he could be just as effective on better going when he claimed a decisive victory in the Group 3 Valley D’Vine Restaurant Spring Sprint.
The Erin Hocquard-trained five-year-old put three victories in a row together during the winter before finishing runner-up in the Listed Opunake Cup back in July.
The son of Derryn was thereabouts in his next three starts but was left alone by punters on Saturday, starting at the generous odds of $17.60 in an even field, mainly because of concerns on whether he would be as effective on a Soft6 surface as opposed to a Heavy10.
Hocquard cut an emotional figure as she reacted to the victory, her first training success at stakes level in a limited career that commenced in the 2016/17 racing season after spending time working for Aidan Schumacher, who co-bred and part-owns Spencer.
– Additional reporting, LoveRacing.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.