Viadana (NZ) Rewards Connections’ Patience

The lightly raced five-year-old mare Viadana (NZ) lived up to her potentialand justified her position as race favourite with a commanding victory in Saturday’s $70,000 Group 3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m) at Ellerslie.

Trained by Lance Noble, Viadana (Towkay x Yeah Nah) has been brought along slowly in her career and came into Saturday’s race with just 14 starts under her belt, her last coming at Ellerslie where she won by just under half-a-length.

Ridden in Saturday’s feature by jockey Mark Du Plessis, Viadana had a lovely run in transit sitting just off the pace and she was dominant in the straight, taking the lead from Undisclosed (Pins) 250 metres from home and racing to an eye-catching one length victory.

Shuka was once again right in the mix and finished off the race well to take his fourth consecutive second placing with Undisclosed holding on well for third, completing the trifecta for Karaka graduates.

With Viadana now proven at Group level, connections are keen to see her compete at Group 1 level and are looking to take her to the Group 1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Te Aroha in the autumn.

Viadana was bred by Little Avondale Trust and was offered by Sam & Catriona Williams Little Avondale Stud at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2009 Karaka Select Sale. She was purchased by Lance & Leigh Noble for $25,000. Raced by Easdon No. 4 Racing Syndicate, the mare has now won six of her 15 starts for over $130,000 in stakes.

Viadana is the 12th stakes winner for her sire Towkay who stands at Little Avondale Stud. With progeny earnings in excess of $21 million, Towkay has also produced the likes of Group 1 winners Special Mission, Ambitious Owner and Group 2 winner Chicharita.

Little Avondale Stud will offer a brother to Viadana at the 2013 Karaka Select Sale at Lot 1035.

The catalogues for the 2013 Karaka Yearling Sales are in the post and will be available from this week. The catalogue for the 2013 Karaka Premier Sale will be posted on New Zealand Bloodstock’s website tomorrow (Tuesday 4 December) with the Select and Festival Sale catalogues to be posted online on Wednesday.