Savaglee (NZ) Soars Again in Sarten

Back-to-back Group Two victories have confirmed the status of Savaglee (NZ) (Savabeel) as a top-tier three-year-old in New Zealand this spring.

The classy colt added Wednesday’s $150,000 James & Annie Sarten Memorial (1400m) at Te Aroha to his last-start success in the Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m). Bought for $400,000 from the Book 1 draft of breeders Waikato Stud at Karaka 2023, he has now earned $371,225 from an 11-start career with five wins and two placings.

Savaglee has remained somewhat under the radar, despite winning the Group Three Matamata Slipper (1200m) as a two-year-old and adding the Hawke’s Bay Guineas to his CV earlier this month. On Wednesday he finally and definitively stepped out of the shadow of his higher-rated contemporaries.

Drawn the outside gate in a field of nine, Savaglee was pushed forward by jockey Sam Spratt and took up a handy position in second. He then kicked powerfully at the top of the long Te Aroha straight, taking the Sarten by the scruff of the neck.

Whiskey ‘N Roses (NZ) (Belardo) and race favourite Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) tried their hardest to reel him back in, but their best efforts came up a length and a half short as Savaglee scored an emphatic win.

“He’s a really smart little horse,” Spratt said. “We were actually going to go back from that wide gate, but when he jumped well, I wasn’t going to pull him back.

“He settled beautifully and kicked on. About halfway up the straight he pricked his ears and started having a look around. I was a bit worried they were going to come and bomb us, but as soon as I gave him a little tickle behind the saddle to put his mind on the job, he dug again. It was very impressive.”

Savaglee races in the white and blue colours of The Oaks Stud and is trained by Pam Gerard, who has endured a frustrating spring with the colt. Both the Hawke’s Bay Guineas and the Sarten were rescheduled and relocated after their original race meetings were abandoned. The Hawke’s Bay Guineas was meant to be run at Hastings on September 28 and was moved to Matamata on October 2, while the original date for the Sarten was on Monday at Te Rapa.

“I don’t think this horse has done a thing wrong,” Gerard said. “He’s gone a bit under everyone’s guard. There’s always been a better horse out there, or so they tell us.

“I don’t think he could do any more than he’s done today. He’s just a good, honest colt. He wants to get out there. He wants to race. We’ve had two trips away where we’ve travelled to a racetrack for nothing, but he keeps backing up.”

Gerard is now looking forward to taking Savaglee down to Christchurch to contest the $650,000 Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton on November 9.

“That was always the goal,” the Matamata trainer said. “Losing those race meetings gives you less time leading into where you want to be. You have to turn your horses around, keep them healthy and in the right state of mind. It was also a worry when it started raining today – we didn’t want him to have too hard of a run. But he’s just killed them today. He’s done it easily.”

Notably, the Sarten is also a Bonus Eligible Race for the inaugural NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie in March. In addition to the $3.5m base prize-money of the NZB Kiwi, an additional $1m in bonuses is up for grabs. To be eligible for a share of the bonus pool, a horse must win one of the Bonus Eligible Races and finish first, second or third in the NZB Kiwi.

Vendor	Waikato Stud Ltd
Purchaser	The Oaks Stud (Waikato)
Breeding	Savabeel – Glee
Sale	Lot 210, Karaka 2023 Book 1, $400,000
Bred by	Waikato Stud Ltd