Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) Supreme in Spring Champion

The 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale is now only three weeks away, and the Karaka extravaganza received a dream advertisement on Saturday with Group One glory in Sydney for a graduate of last year’s sale. 

Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) (Redwood), who was offered at the Ready to Run Sale in November 2021, reigned supreme in the A$2m Moet & Chandon Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick. From seven starts, he has now won four races and more than $1.7m – almost 20 times his reserve at last year’s Ready to Run Sale.

A stakes winner in his homeland in the autumn, Sharp ‘N’ Smart went into Saturday’s Spring Champion as the winner of both of his three-year-old starts, including the Group Three Gloaming Stakes (1600m) at Warwick Farm on October 12.

Ridden by Hugh Bowman, the rising star gelding travelled three-wide in fifth before launching a powerful bid for glory down the Randwick straight. He relentlessly reeled in last-start Group One Caulfield Guineas (1600m) runner-up Elliptical (Dundeel), edging him out by a nose in a tight finish. The third placegetter was proven Group One star She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice).

“He’s a very courageous horse,” Bowman said. “I had a lot of confidence in him.

“I was just lucky I was on a horse that has a great will to win. I know him well, he’s come a long way in the last six months and he’s going to continue to improve as a galloper, so he’s very exciting.

“I knew it was a sticky draw, but I just had to take my medicine. What I was able to do was get him into a really good rhythm. He wasn’t spending any gas, and I knew I had the two to beat positioned right in front of me.

“I waited for them to inject pressure into each other. I did my work around the course, but they did their work from the 700 metres to the line, and the best horse came out on top.”

Trained and part-owned by Westbury Stud principal Gerry Harvey, Sharp ‘N’ Smart was a $55,000 purchase from Book 2 of Karaka 2021 and is trained by Graeme and Debbie Rogerson.

“He’s a very good horse,” said Graeme Rogerson, a New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductee who last won the Spring Champion in 2004 with the mighty Savabeel.

“He’s got a really big heart. He’s still six months away. Hughie just said he went 50 yards further than anything, but every time you ask him to do more, he just does it. I haven’t had a horse like him for a long time.”

Rogerson now has his eyes on another piece of Group One gold in the Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington next Saturday.

“He’s nearly done what I want,” he said. “He wins the Derby next Saturday, and then he can have a holiday. He’ll go a mile and a half, no worries, and he’s better on a good track than in the wet.”

While buyers missed out on this son of Redwood at last year’s Ready to Run Sale, they will have the opportunity to try to find another Sharp ‘N’ Smart at the 2022 edition at Karaka on November 16 and 17. The catalogue for this year’s Ready to Run Sale features 10 two-year-olds by the Westbury Stud stallion.

Vendor	Karaka 2021: Westbury Stud 2021 Ready to Run Sale: Dormello Stud
Purchaser	Karaka 2021: Rogerson Bloodstock (Waikato)
Breeding	Redwood – Queen Margaret
Sale	Lot 612, Karaka 2021 Book 2, $55,000 Lot 255, 2021 Ready to Run Sale, Psd (Res $90,000)
Bred by	G Harvey