Photo: Peter Rubery, Race Images
Sarah Devcich was full of pride witnessing a filly she bred and part-owns in Hitabell (Embellish) win last Saturday’s Listed The O’Leary’s Fillies Stakes (1340m) at Wanganui.
At her fourth raceday start, Hitabell was due a change in fortune after a luckless run at Ellerslie behind Costae, and jockey Courtney Barnes took luck out of the equation in the feature, leading from the outset to score over race-favourite Celestial Wonder.
Devcich, who owns and operates Henley Park alongside her husband Marc, was delighted with the result, praising the efforts of Hitabell’s trainer Stephen Marsh.
“It was very exciting, she’s such a lovely filly and is almost a part of the family,” she said.
“She’s very electric out of the gates and Courtney rode her amazingly well, getting her to the front and it all played out perfectly, when the horses came up to attack, she went again. I was very proud.
“To see her do what she did on Saturday, it was just amazing, and full credit to Stephen and the Marsh Racing team. They picked this race out for her, they decided to aim for the three-year-old races up here instead of going south for the (Gr.1 New Zealand 1000) Guineas, and it’s paid off.”
Devcich had offered Hitabell on the 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Online Yearling Sale where she was purchased by Dylan Johnson Bloodstock and Marsh for $9,500, while remaining in the ownership herself.
“I wanted to keep some of her, but I had a few horses racing in work, so it was nice to put it out there and have a couple of friends race her with us, and then another client of Marsh Racing,” she said. “We’ve got to know these people and it’s been a fun journey, a few of them are from the South Island as well.
“She’s really easy, very intelligent and always wants to please. We gave her a yearling prep even though we didn’t sell her at the sales, we had her as a friend for another filly we took to Australia. The breakers loved her and the Marsh stable have loved her all the way through, I think she’s one of the favourites in there.
“She’s come here to the paddock here for a week and as soon as she got off the float, she knew where she was and was very relaxed.
“I’m just rapt with her, she’s come a long way in a short time and she’s so professional, she’s like an older-minded horse in a young body. Hopefully, she can continue.
“All going well, we hope to get her to the Eight Carat (Gr.2, 1600m) next.”
Devcich had purchased Hitabell’s dam Anahita in-foal to the filly for $1,000 through gavelhouse.com, with the resulting offspring impressing the pair enough to return to Cambridge Stud’s resident sire the following season.
“I purchased her off gavelhouse in foal, Embellish was a nice stallion that we really liked and we sent the mare back to him because we really liked the style he’d left in this filly (Hitabell),” she said.
“He had just gone to stud and my husband was working at Cambridge Stud at the time, so we thought it was a good option for her.
“The Stravinsky mare (Anahita) was from a family that we had raced previously and we didn’t have much of the family left, so when she came up for sale, she was a good option.
“We retained her next foal but then Marsh Racing purchased her from us as well. At this stage we don’t have a share in her, but that might change.”
Anahita has since passed away, and her remaining progeny, a two-year-old full-sister to Hitabell, is named Annie Bling.
While enjoying the spoils of owning a stakes-winning filly, the Devcich’s have a busy couple of months ahead, preparing nine yearlings for the 2025 Karaka Yearling Sales, kicking off on January 26.
Of their draft, Devcich is particularly excited about Lot 156, a filly by Hello Youmzain, and Lot 209, a Contributer colt closely related to Gr.1 Randwick Guineas (1600m) winner Lion’s Roar.
“We have a lovely Hello Youmzain filly that is very forward, she looks like she’ll get up early and run,” Devcich said.
“We have a really nice Contributer colt who has pleased us from day one, he loves his work and is a great type from a good family.
“The whole draft is really nice, but those two are my pick at this stage.”
