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29 for Deep Field
Mr Mojo Risin’ (4 g ex La Scala by Bahhare) became the 29th individual stakes winner for the now retired Newgate Farm stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor) when he landed Thursday’s ANZAC Mile (Listed, 1600m) at Otaki. Sent off the $3.50 second-elect under Joe Doyle, the Andrew Forsman-trained four-year-old stayed on well down the far-side rail to hold on from the fast-finishing favourite Islington Lass (Proisir), eventually beating that rival by 0.4 lengths. The Kelvin Tyler-trained Lightning Jack (Per Incanto) finished a further 2.3 lengths behind in third place. Out of the stakes-placed winning Bahhare (Woodman) mare La Scala, Mr Mojo Risin’ is a half-brother to five other winners. Deep Field was retired from stallion duties last year.
Impendabelle a threat in Cambridge Breeders’
Impendabelle (Impending) will aim to make her presence felt when she takes her chance in Saturday’s Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Te Rapa. The Tony Pike-trained daughter of Impending (Lonhro) won the Challenge Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) as a two-year-old, and is holding that form this season with success in the Soliloquy Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), and a brace of Group 1 placings in the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) and Levin Classic (Gr 1, 1600m). A deserved month in the spelling paddock followed the filly’s midfield finish in the Karaka Millions 3YO (RL, 1600m) in January, and she will have the services of jockey Michael McNab when resuming on Saturday. “She’s looking fantastic after a month in the paddock, she’s been pretty unlucky not to win a Group 1 this season, but she’s been very consistent,” Pike said. “I’m very happy with how she’s come back, and she has drawn well (barrier one), although 1200 metres may be a touch short of her best, from that gate she should be hard to beat.”
O’Sullivan looking to break partnership record
The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott training partnership have been in great form this season with 48 wins to their credit, including seven at Group or Listed level, headed by the victory of Molly Bloom (Ace High) in the New Zealand 1,000 Guineas at Riccarton in November. Currently sitting fourth on the National trainers’ premiership table, the Wexford Stables team will unleash runners at both their local meeting at Matamata on Friday and again at Te Rapa on Saturday with O’Sullivan confident they can break their previous season best tally of 49 wins. The pair have eight of their team set for Te Rapa on Saturday headed up by promising three-year-olds Geriatrix (Almanzor) and I’munstoppable (Charm Spirit) in the Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes, while a pair of youngsters in Zelezniak (Hellbent) and Sister Cynane (I Am Invincible) add plenty of intrigue to the Cambridge Raceway 2YO (1200m) earlier on the card. “Geriatrix and I’munstoppable are both going well but it is a field with very good depth,” O’Sullivan said. “Our two-year-olds are also in good nick with Sister Cynane a promising filly. She has won three of her four trials, so we think she has a bright future ahead of her. Zelezniak went out a raging hot favourite on debut on his home track but did a lot wrong that day and didn’t really fire like we had expected him to. He has been gelded since and is a real work in progress, but we’d like to think he will be able to show his best from now on.”
McCarthy duo on song for Te Rapa
Cambridge trainer Lauren Brennan will head to Te Rapa on Saturday with a couple of in-form runners for breeder-owner Greg McCarthy, and she is expecting them both to go well. McLaren (Sweynesse), a five-year-old half-brother to McCarthy’s Group 3 winner Ayrton (Iffraaj), has been runner-up in his last two outings and will be out to go one better in a Rating 65 (1400m) event. “He has come out of his Otaki run in good order and I thought he ran well enough down there,” Brennan said. “He always looks like he is going to fade away and then all of a sudden he hits the line really strongly. He has been a quirky one all the way through, we just kid glove him basically and he seems to respond well to that. He picks up a cheque every now and then. He is not an Ayrton, but he is doing well.” Earlier on the card, Brennan will line-up the fellow McCarthy-bred-and-owned Sir Sterling (Iffraaj) in a Rating 75 (1300m) contest, with the son of Iffraaj (Zafonic) also having placed in his last two starts. “He also ran a nice race at Otaki,” Brennan said. “He hit the front a bit too soon there and when he does that, he pulls himself up. He probably should have won that. Hopefully we can bide our time and not hit the front too soon, if he is going to get there on Saturday.”