Mascarpone (NZ) Magic in Foxbridge

After flashes of brilliance through the last two seasons, X-factor five-year-old Mascarpone (NZ) (Shooting To Win) stepped up and delivered on one of New Zealand spring racing’s biggest stages at Te Rapa on Saturday. 

The chestnut upstaged a stellar cast of kiwi weight-for-age stars in the $110,000 Group Two Valachi Downs Foxbridge Plate (1200m), improving his career record to seven wins from 20 starts and prizemoney of $237,375 – comfortably eclipsing his $160,000 purchase price from Book 1 of Karaka 2018.

Ridden by Ryan Elliot, Mascarpone broke well from a handy gate and sat in a trailing position behind the front-running Only In Jakarta (Snitzel) and Festivity (NZ) (I Am Invincible).

Elliot pushed the button at the top of the straight and Mascarpone changed gears, sprinting past the leaders to take command with 200 metres to run.

Gino Severini (Fastnet Rock) produced a big finish to eat into the margin in the closing stages, but Mascarpone had the race in safe keeping and held him out by a neck. The rest of the field finished more than two lengths adrift of the first two finishers.

“This is a real good horse,” co-trainer Graeme Rogerson said. “He’s a top sprinting horse. He can be a little bit wayward, but he’s a very good horse, a very fast horse.

“He trialled about three weeks ago on an off track and beat a strong field out of sight that day, so he was certainly going to be a good chance today on better ground and with a good draw.

“I thought he could be a Group One horse in Melbourne this spring, but things are a little bit up in the air at the moment with the COVID situation. There are some good races for him here as well, and we could always have a go at Australia in the autumn.”

Bred by Westbury Stud owner Gerry Harvey, Mascarpone is a close relative of the New Zealand Bloodstock Filly of the Year and Group One Australian Oaks (2400m) winner Sofia Rosa (NZ) (Makfi).

Mascarpone is trained by Team Rogerson for an ownership group that includes Butterworth Racing Syndicate and NZ Thoroughbred Holdings.

Having previously captured the Listed Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) at Te Rapa last November, Mascarpone is now a two-time winner at stakes level, and he is undefeated in two impressive 1200m appearances at the Hamilton track.

Mascarpone also finished a close third behind top-flight performers Avantage (Fastnet Rock) and Callsign Mav (Atlante) in the Group One BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa in February, along with a fourth in the Group One Telegraph (1200m) at Trentham in January.

Vendor	Westbury Stud
Purchaser	Team Rogerson (Waikato)
Breeding	Shooting to Win – Fromage
Sale	Lot 224, Karaka 2018 Book 1, $160,000
Bred by	G Harvey