Group 1 win for Provence headlines stellar day for Savabeel
The mare made up a brilliant feature treble for jockey Sam Spratt at Trentham
Sam Spratt enjoyed one of her very best days in the saddle when she rode a feature race treble at Trentham on Saturday headlined by her victory aboard the Stephen Marsh-trained Provence in the Thorndon Mile (Gr 1, 1600m), whose win provided Waikato Stud’s marquee stallion Savabeel (Zabeel) with his 35th individual Group 1 winner.
Spratt set the standard for the day when steering Provence’s stablemate, To Cap It All (Capitalist), to win the Wellesley Stakes (Listed, 1100m) on debut, before snaring her second black type event of the afternoon when she took out the Levin Classic (Gr 2, 1400m) aboard this season’s New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Savaglee, who like Provence is by Waikato Stud’s marquee stallion Savabeel (Zabeel).
The jockey, who also recorded another black type treble on the first day of the New Zealand Cup Carnival at Riccarton in November, has now ridden 12 stakes winners this season, which puts six in front of her nearest rival in terms of stakes wins.
“It’s been a huge day,” Spratt said. “Coming into today [Saturday], I knew I had three decent rides in those big races. It’s great that it all panned out.
“It’s extra special because I was born just a couple of kilometres down the road from here. I think I even went for a bolt around this track on a pony when I was a kid.”
Spratt placed the mare in a midfield position before peeling out in the home straight, finishing strongly to prevail in a close finish to beat Qali Al Farrasha (Almanzor) by 0.1 lengths. Town Cryer (Tavistock) produced another consistent performance to finish third.
The mare went into the Group 1 off the back of a fourth-placed finish in the Rich Hill Mile (Gr 2, 1600m) and the leap in class posed no issues for the talented five-year-old, who provided Cambridge-based trainer Stephen Marsh with his tenth Group 1 win.
“These Group 1 wins are why you do it,” Marsh’s stable representative and bloodstock agent Dylan Johnson said.
“She’s a quality mare. I remember Stephen saying to me after a gallop in the early stages of this preparation, ‘She’ll win a Group 1 this season.’ She’s proved him right. She’s all class.
“She’s continued to come through the grades. She was unlucky in the Rich Hill. She’s just kept progressing and is such a tough, genuine racehorse.
“She’s part-owned by Tony Rider, who also bred her. He puts so much into the industry with Milan Park, and she’s going to make a great addition to his broodmare band in time. And there’s a massive group of owners in the Social Racing group as well. We’re thrilled to get this win for all of those connections.”
Provence is out of the winning Flying Spur (Danehill) mare Sombreuil and she is also the dam of another two winners, including Provence’s sister Damask Rose, who has been a multiple stakes placegetter for Te Akau Racing and will fill their slot in Kiwi (1500m) on March 8 at Ellerslie.
Marsh, Johnson and Spratt all tasted stakes success earlier in the day, when promising juvenile To Cap It All registered an emphatic debut win in the Wellesley Stakes.
Becoming the 22nd stakes winner – and fifth in New Zealand – for the Newgate Farm-based sire Capitalist (Written Tycoon).
The two-year-old filly jumped well to lead the ten-horse-field, and fought back strongly after being headed in the straight to narrowly defeat the Bryce Newman-trained Abbakiss (Microphone) by 0.1 lengths, with Mike Breslin’s Intention (Bivouac) a further 0.3 lengths away in third.
“We were confident coming into today. Stephen has had a big opinion of her all the way through, and she’s a filly with a lovely attitude,” said Johnson.
“It’s never easy for a first-starter in a race like this, going up against proven stakes horses. It was a massive effort to travel this far and win on debut.”
Marsh and Johnson Bloodstock purchased To Cap It All from the Ridgmont draft at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for $280,000. To Cap It All is out of the winning Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) mare Oh My Mimi, whose dam Mimi Lebrock (Show A Heart) won the Tristarc Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) and placed in both the Myer Classic (Gr 1, 1600m) and Emirates Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m).
“We loved this filly right from the moment we first saw her,” Johnson said. “You have to pay a bit of money to buy nice fillies like her, but we’re lucky to have an amazing group of owners that put their support behind us to do that.
“She’s a big, strong filly who moved beautifully at the sales. She looked great in the parade today and acquitted herself very well on debut.
Although the filly is not eligible for the Karaka Millions, she is likely to be set for other black-type targets later in the summer.
“She’s a stakes-winning filly with a big pedigree and has done a great job already,” Johnson said. “If we could push forward now to a race like the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes in February, that would be an ideal target.”
Earlier this week, Marsh and Johnson put their faith in Capitalist once again when they secured Lot 536, a filly by the son of Written Tycoon (Iglesia), for $180,000 from Lustre Lodge at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale on Friday.
“We love the Capitalist and Written Tycoon sire line, the stable has had a lot of success with it in the past,” Johnson said. “We’re always keen to go back and try to find gold where it’s been found before.”
Alma Vale Thoroughbreds will offer To Cap It All’s Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) half-sister at the Inglis Classic Sale in Sydney next month. The filly is catalogued as Lot 491.
Savabeel and Spratt’s success continued into the day, when Savaglee kicked away impressively, to post an impressive victory in the Levin Classic (Gr 2, 1400m) as a $1.40 favourite in his first appearance since his scintillating triumph in the New Zealand 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in November last year.
An impressive win for onlookers, Spratt placed the three-year-old in a stalking, box-seat position and the colt extended away from his rivals to defeat the Andrew Forsman-trained Kitty Flash (Ace High) by 1.8 lengths, with Marsh’s Tardelli (I Am Invincible) 0.5 lengths away in third.
Trainer Pam Gerard appeared nervous pre-race, feeling the weight of public expectations for a victory from her stable star.
“I’m relieved now as that was absolutely amazing,” Gerard said. “You sort of know what you’ve got and it makes your job harder, but you hope you have done everything you can as he was coming back from a bit of a let-up.
“It’s really cool and I‘m super happy for the Oaks Stud [owner] and for the horse.”
Gerard has a major autumn campaign in her sights for the colt, and was reassured by Spratt before the race, who remained unfazed by their first-up challenge.
“Sam said to me Pam don’t worry as he could be last or anywhere and he will still win, as she has that much confidence in him,” she said. “Obviously it is the feel he gives her although I did tell her to stop talking right away! He is a top horse who has his confidence up and that is great.
“We need to get him home now and work out how we progress as colts can get a bit hot and while he is in the zone we will decide where we need to go next.”
Gerard said the $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3YO (RL, 1600m) at Ellerslie on January 25, and the $3.5 million NZB Kiwi.
However, with Savaglee considered a future stallion prospect, Gerard suggested the horse was more likely to target valuable black-type races, with the BCD Group Sprint (Gr 1, 1400m) at Te Rapa on February 8 now firmly on the radar
Spratt was full of praise for the colt post-race.
“I got a perfect run but I wasn’t worried as I had said to Pam even if we are last he will be able to smoke past them,” she said.
“I was pretty much winging it and he is just getting better and better with every start and is a mean racehorse now.
“As a stallion prospect Group 1 status is what is best for him and right now he is right up there on how I rate them.”
This was the seventh career win and fifth stakes-level win for the colt, who was bred by Waikato Stud and bought out of the draft by The Oaks Stud for $400,000 out of Book 1 at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale in 2023.
With this year’s Karaka sale getting underway Auckland on January 26, buyers will be afforded the chance to get their hands on 46 yearlings – 28 colts and 18 fillies – by the multiple champion sire in Book 1, while there are five lots by Capitalist set to go under the hammer at the sale in the same book.