Trentham Triumph for Ladies Man (NZ)

A year on from his first taste of Group One glory, Ladies Man (NZ) (Zed) returned to the top of the podium with an outstanding come-from-behind performance in Saturday’s $400,000 Group One TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) at Trentham.

Ladies Man was purchased by trainer Allan Sharrock for $60,000 from the Book 2 draft of breeders Grangewilliam Stud at Karaka 2019. His 31-start career has produced eight wins, 14 placings and $896,656 in stakes – almost 15 times his purchase price.

A half-brother to another Group One-winning Karaka graduate in Ladies First (NZ) (Dylan Thomas), Ladies Man made his first Group One impact in the Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings in October of last year. The big gelding went winless in his next eight starts after that, but he placed in four of those including the Group One Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie and the Group Three Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) at Flemington.

Sharrock put blinkers on for Ladies Man’s return to the Group One stage at Trentham on Saturday, and the seven-year-old responded with a performance that was nothing short of outstanding.

After settling in eighth for jockey Opie Bosson, Ladies Man moved across heels and out into clear air out wide on the track as the field rounded the home turn.

Bosson pushed the button and Ladies Man responded brilliantly, charging up on the outside of the dual Group One-winning mare La Crique (NZ) (Vadamos). That rival still had more to give and rose to meet his challenge, but Ladies Man slowly but surely took the upper hand and won by a neck.

“Allan Sharrock is an amazing trainer, and the blinkers going on today made a big difference,” Bosson said. “Credit to La Crique, who really kicked again when I got to her. I thought I would go past her quite easily, but it turned into a tough battle.

“I was just trying to get a nice track into the race coming up to the turn. The horse in front of me was a little bit all over the place, but I managed to get across his heels. Once we got balanced up at the top of the straight, I thought we were home easily until I saw La Crique kick again. But we got there in the end.

“I think 2000 metres is more his go, but he’s classy enough to perform like he did today over the mile.”

Sharrock took special satisfaction from Ladies Man’s return to the big time.

“Opie’s ride was a 10 and a half out of 10 today,” Sharrock said. “He’s just so silky. It makes a big difference when you’ve got someone like him on in a Group One race. In a lot of my Group One wins, I’ve had guys like Opie, James (McDonald) and Leith (Innes) riding. You need those top jockeys.

“The blinkers seemed to spark the horse up a little bit today. I’ll wait and see whether I leave them on for the Zabeel Classic (Group One, 2000m). He seemed to travel generously in them today and didn’t overdo things.

“He’s a mile and a half horse really, but he’s just a proper horse. We’ll be going to the Zabeel Classic with a little bit of confidence now.

“The O’Learys and the Stanleys are great people to train for, and I’m also really grateful for all the work that my staff, vets and blacksmiths have done to get this horse here today. I’m thrilled for everyone.”

Vendor	Grangewilliam Stud
Purchaser	Mr SA Sharrock (Taranaki)
Breeding	Zed – Just Polite
Sale	Lot 768, Karaka 2019 Book 2, $60,000
Bred by	Grangewilliam Stud Ltd