Bargain Buy Scores Listed Win

A brilliant front-running win in Saturday’s $80,000 Listed O’Learys Fillies’ Stakes (1340m) at Wanganui was a coming-of-age performance by Hitabell (NZ) (Embellish), who was bought for only $9,500 from NZB’s 2023 National Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus.

The Stephen Marsh-trained filly has now had four starts for two wins, turning that $9,500 outlay into more than $61,000 in prize-money for her connections.

An all-the-way winner on debut at Taupo on October 11, Hitabell was thrown in at the deep end for her second career start when she took on the Group Two Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) at Ellerslie two weeks later. She ran a commendable fifth behind quality fillies Alabama Lass (Alabama Express), Kitty Flash (NZ) (Ace High), Love Poem (Snitzel) and Sexy And I Moet (Pierro). Alabama Lass and Love Poem have both finished second at Group One level since then.

Hitabell was badly blocked in the straight when she finished seventh in her only other start, which was at Ellerslie on November 7. Jockey Courtney Barnes took bad luck out of the equation when Hitabell returned to stakes company on Saturday, driving her straight to the lead and dominating the race from the front.

A strong kick around the home turn carried Hitabell well clear, and she maintained her advantage all the way down the straight to win by three-quarters of a length.

“I think this might be a pretty nice filly,” Marsh said. “We didn’t pay much for her in the National Online Yearling Sale, and now she’s a stakes winner with a fair bit of value.

“She won very well on debut, then had those couple of runs at Ellerslie and was probably unlucky not to win one of them, and now she’s come out and led all the way in a black-type race.

“We’ll get her home now and work out what we do next. We could have a look at a race like the Eight Carat (Group Two, 1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.”

Hitabell became the third individual stakes winner for young Cambridge Stud stallion Embellish (NZ), who is also the sire of the Group Three winners Luberon (NZ) and Bold Soul (NZ). Embellish will feature at Karaka 2025 with 12 yearlings in Book 2.