Second Group 1 for Recite (NZ)

The Oaks Stud enjoyed a stellar day of Group 1 racing at Trentham on Saturday with Recite (NZ) (Darci Brahma) winning the second Group 1 race of her career in the $240,000 Ocean Park Levin Classic (1600m).

Recite (NZ) winning the Group 1 Ocean Park Levin Classic.

Owned by The Oaks Stud, Recite is by their resident sire Darci Brahma who celebrated a Group 1 double on Saturday when Irish Fling (NZ) (Darci Brahma) scored in the Group 1 Telegraph Handicap later in the day.

It was the first time the Group 1 Levin Classic has been held in January, switching from its traditional date in late November.

The John Bary trained Recite was an unbeaten two-year-old in a campaign that landed her first Group 1 victory in the Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes. The filly returned as a three-year-old in the spring and was disappointing in the Listed Wanganui Guineas which saw her given a spell and brought back in December.

At her last start, Recite was an unlucky fourth in the Group 2 Eight Carat Classic after being blocked for a run in the home straight.

Ridden by Mark du Plessis, who also grabbed the Group 1 double on Irish Fling, Recite flew the barriers and settled in second spot during the running, outside stablemate Franzac (NZ) (Iffraaj). The pace slowed in the middle sections and the leaders got away with some cheap sectionals.

As the field turned for home, Recite went to the lead and put two lengths on the field. The field closed near the line but the race was in safe keeping and Recite won by half-a-length over Franzac who kept fighting, with Aspen (NZ) (Alamosa) finishing a close third.

“She was fit, she was bright and she travelled well,” commented Bary. “We were quietly confident and she is proven at the Group level, a lot of those horses hadn’t raced at Group level and it is a different type of pressure, we know she handles it. And I liked the weight pull, the 2kgs is a big help.

“I have to take my hat off to Rick Williams and Dick Karramen of The Oaks Stud, I said to them she is growing and they said to throw her in the paddock and when she is right bring her back. I am lucky at my training establishment that we have the paddocks and we just walked passed her, feed her twice a day and when she started running and playing again we brought her back into work.

“It was just growing pains and I think she is still growing at the moment. We might not see her back to 100% until she is a four-year-old is my guess but there is no pressure now for the rest of her three-year-old year.

“She is not back to her best yet but we pulled it off so we are very lucky.”

It was the fifth win of Recite’s career, and the fourth at stakes level, adding to the Group 1 Manawatu Sire Produce Stakes, the Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and the Group 2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes she won on the same day last year. The filly has earned her owner/breeders, The Oaks Stud, $409,275 in prizemoney.

The Oaks Stud offered the filly at the 2012 Karaka Premier Sale where she was unable to meet her $80,000 reserve.

The Oaks Stud has 32 horses catalogued in the Premier and Select Sales next week at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales Series, including 15 Lots by Darci Brahma.

Recite is one of four Group 1 winners for her sire Darci Brahma from four crops of racing age. The Oaks Stud’s resident sire has 52 yearlings catalogued in the Premier and Select Sales next week.

Darci Brahma has been the Leading Sire in Singapore for the last two years with his son Super Easy (NZ) (Darci Brahma) a winner of three Group 1 races in Singapore and holds the record for the longest winning streak of 12 consecutive races.

Darci Brahma had the best runners to winners ratio (65%) of top 20 sires in Australia and New Zealand last seasons and has sired 13 stakes winners in his short stud career.