Full-Brother to Viadana in NZ RTR

Group 1 winning mare Viadana (NZ) (Towkay) made an emphatic return to racing with victory in the Listed $50,000 Lion Red Plate over 1200m at Rotorua on Saturday.

Viadana (NZ) wins the Listed Lion Red Plate at Rotorua on Saturday.

Last season’s Group 1 Easter Handicap winner further boosted the pedigree of her younger full-brother who is catalogued in the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale next month as Lot 300.

A graduate of the Karaka Select Sale herself, Viadana entered Saturday’s feature sprint race in a fresh state having not run since April in the Group 2 Travis Stakes.

Trained by Lance Noble, the six-year-old mare travelled near the tail of the field with the race run at a good tempo. As the field turned for home rider Craig Grylls brought Viadana to the outside and she swept to the front at the top of the straight.

Fellow Karaka graduate Ginner Heart (NZ) (Volksraad) went with Viadana and the pair drew away from the rest of the field to fight out the race with Viadana proving too strong to score by half-a-head. Durham Town (NZ) (Falkirk) ran into third placing a further 2.3 lengths back to complete a Karaka trifecta.

“She was due to run in the Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes over 1400m but I scratched because the track was heavy so going to Rotorua was plan B but she was ready to run 1400m therefore I thought she would run a strong 1200m,” stated Noble.

“The way the field panned out and the way the race was run there was plenty of speed which suited here as she got back and was able to swoop on them.

“She is a very good mare, a Group 1 winner so you expect them to run well fresh.

“She is pretty versatile but I didn’t want to flatten her by running on a heavy track at Taranaki and the track at Rotorua was perfect as it hadn’t been used for a while, had a good sole of grass and it suited her.

“She is pretty high up in the ratings now so handicap racing is not ideal for her now as she will get a pretty big weight.

“There is weight-for-age 1600m at Tauranga on the 16th of November that she will go to next and then go to the Captain Cook, all being well, at Wellington on the 7th of December, a weight-for-age Group 1 race.”

It was the eight win in Viadana’s 22-start career with the mare breaking the $300,000 mark for her owners Easdon No. 4 Racing Syndicate (Mgr Mrs L G Noble).

The mare by Towkay was bred by Little Avondale Trust, Viadana is out of the winning mare Yeah Nah (Kinjite), a half-sister to Group 2 winner Singing Star (Danasinga). She was bought by Lance and Leigh Noble at the 2009 Karaka Select Sale from Little Avondale Stud for $25,000.