Impendabelle Impresses in Group Two Triumph

Two trips to Trentham this spring have brought two victories for two-year-old filly Impendabelle (Impending), including a valuable blacktype triumph in Saturday’s $140,000 Group Two Mode Technology Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m) at Trentham.

Impendabelle was bought for $80,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2022, and Saturday’s result carries extra significance with a half-sibling in the catalogue for Karaka 2023 at the end of next month. With a flawless two-from-two record, Impendabelle has now earned $88,900 for her nine-strong group of owners.

With Saturday’s Wakefield in mind, Cambridge trainer Tony Pike sent Impendabelle south to make her debut at Trentham in a 900-metre race on October 23. She was enormously impressive, winning by four and a half lengths. That performance earned her warm favouritism for the Wakefield, and she delivered – despite some nervous moments along the way.

Patiently ridden by Michael McNab, Impendabelle began well but lost her forward position and drifted back to be near the tail of the field approaching the home turn. Just when McNab would have wanted to ask his mount to start warming through her gears, he found himself blocked and with nowhere to go.

But a narrow gap finally appeared and that was enough for Impendabelle, who dived through that slender opening and accelerated impressively to score by a widening margin of three-quarters of a length.

“I got away cleanly enough, but then they went quite quick, so I thought I would get some cover,” McNab said. “I ended up at the back, but I was happy with the horse I was following – I knew they would take me quite far into the race.

“The best thing about it was that she burst through the tight run, and when she balanced, she really sprinted and put them away. It may even have been too easy – she was all over the show. But only handy horses can do that. She was super.”

Impendabelle was Pike’s third Wakefield winner in the last four years, and Saturday’s $80,500 winning prize-money puts her in a clear lead in the order of entry for the $1m DoubleTree by Hilton Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) at Pukekohe on January 21.

Just a few days after that eagerly anticipated race, Landsdowne Park will offer a half-sister to Impendabelle during Book 1 of Karaka 2023. The filly by So You Think (NZ) will go through the ring as Lot 36.

Karaka graduates dominated Saturday’s Wakefield Challenge Stakes, also filling the second and third placings. Runner-up Believe In Magic (NZ) (Not A Single Doubt) was a $200,000 purchase from Book 1 of Karaka 2022, while the third-placed Dapper (NZ) (Shooting To Win) cost $150,000 at the same sale.