Photo: Bruno Cannatelli
Late last Saturday afternoon, New Zealand time, interested New Zealanders turned their attention to Flemington. The big question: Could Savaglee (Savabeel), our leading three-year-old, be as good as we thought? The answer was yes, despite being beaten by Feroce (Super Seth) in the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
Imagine being Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick when the race narrowed to two runners at the 200-metre mark. Another Group 1 for Savabeel (Zabeel) or a first Group 1 for Super Seth (Dundeel)? So, Kiwi Chronicles contacted Chittick and his reaction was: “As good as another Australian Group 1 for Savabeel could never be a negative, for Super Seth to get his first and on Australian soil, is massive. Feroce’s second in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) last October was just as good. Super Seth is our future and in just a little over a week he has sired seven different winners beginning with Sethito in the Listed race at Ellerslie. La Dorada is tough and must be a big chance this coming Saturday.”
Chittick continued: “You’ll remember that due to Covid we retired Super Seth earlier than we had originally planned. Honestly, we thought he was a Cox Plate horse and we know what that means on the resume but we didn’t know if there would even be a Cox Plate. We had to outlay a very large sum to get him so there was that pressure too but he is showing us that with just two crops he is the real deal.”
Such a result was excellent for the stud and first class for their up and coming sire Super Seth, Feroce representing his initial crop. As Chittick remarked, his second Group 1 winner may well eventuate this coming Saturday when La Dorada (Super Seth) lines up in the Sistema Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). Given her form so far she will be mighty hard to beat.
A similar scenario to the Australian Guineas faces Chittick this coming Saturday with the inaugural running of the NZB Kiwi (1500m). The stud has their own slot taken by Sought After (Tivaci) but another three runners will have Chittick not knowing where to look. Super Seth is represented by Sethito, Savabeel (Zabeel) by Damask Rose and Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) by Ardalio.
Feroce is a graduate of the NZB 2023 Ready to Run sale, secured for $160,000. His half-sister is Siracusa (Sebring), a Listed winner of four races and twice Group placed. His dam’s half-brother is the Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) victor De Beers (Quest For Fame). His great granddam is the dual Group 1 winner Tristalove (Sir Tristram). She won 11 times including the AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) as well as the Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) and produced four stakes winners. This is, of course, the wonderful Eight Carat family, Eight Carat being Tristalove’s granddam.
Lofty family
Stakes racing in New Zealand this past Saturday saw the focus directed way down south, on Wingatui, Mosgiel, near Dunedin. The three stakes were the WFA White Robe Lodge Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m), the Dunedin Guineas (Listed, 1600m) and the time-honoured Dunedin Gold Cup (Listed, 2400m).
In the 2400-metre staying test of the Cup, Loftys Gift (Ghibellines) was forced three wide into the back straight and rather than be stuck wide, rider Samantha Wynne elected to go forward and sat second leaving the back straight. Before the field turned for home Wynne added more pressure by taking the mare to the front. Past the 200 metres they had the chasers in trouble and Loftys Gift held on comfortably for her ninth win and maiden stakes win.
The six-year-old mare began her career in the North Island, resulting in two wins. Transferred to the Invercargill stable of Robert Dennis she won four on the trot late last season and again two starts back. Most of her wins have been on heavy tracks but Wingatui dealt a Good 4 on Saturday.
Present on the day was the founder of White Robe Lodge, Brian Anderton, ONZM. The stud has been at the forefront of South Island racing and breeding for many decades. Anderton’s first winner as a jockey was on the mare White Robe (Sir Galloway) during the early 1950s.
Although the Dunedin Gold Cup winner was not owned or trained by the Andertons, every other aspect of Loftys Gift can be attributed to White Robe Lodge, right back to the stud’s founding. Not only was Loftys Gift bred by the Andertons they also bred Loftys Gift’s dam, granddam, third dam, fourth dam and fifth dam. Loftys Gift is by Ghibellines (Shamardal) who currently stands at White Robe Lodge. They also stood the sires of each of Loftys Gift’s dams, back to her fourth dam and it was Mellay (Never Say Die), the sire of her fourth dam, who really set this family and the stud on its path.
During a most pleasant visit to White Robe Lodge last November, Kiwi Chronicles spent an evening with the Anderton family and the man largely responsible for White Robe Lodge’s great history. Brian’s memory is incredible and it was clear that, although very humble, he is also very proud of White Robe Lodge.
The writer presented a scroll of the equine family descending from the foundation mare White Robe. The scroll is essentially a family tree detailing, in semi-catalogue form, every ounce of black-type descending from her. It is Arion Pedigrees’ maternal descendants report simply rearranged. Running 12 pages in length, all were joined so that it became one document, rolled up into a scroll.
Mellay and Noble Bijou (Vaguely Noble) were the one-two punch that elevated White Robe Lodge into the international and commercial bloodstock world. How did the Mellay purchase transpire? The maestro and Hall of Famer, Brian Anderton, takes up the story.
“We were looking for a new stallion and I contacted the BBA [British Bloodstock Agency] explaining our situation but that we didn’t have a lot of money, certainly not enough to purchase a stallion with both performance and pedigree. They had Mellay on their books and sent a large envelope via airmail which I collected from our local Taiere airport. While driving the short distance to the homestead I couldn’t wait and pulled over to the side of the road. I opened the envelope and lay the first few pages open. It was instant. This was it! He was exactly what we wanted. By a Derby winner from an Oaks winner. I just had to have him,” said Anderton.
White Robe herself was well above average on the track, winning ten times and was twice stakes placed. Her second foal, Princess Ermine (Beaumaris) never raced but in 1966, after a mating with Mellay (his first season), produced Princess Mellay, the winner of 18 races including the New Zealand Oaks (Gr 2, 12f), then run at Riccarton, two New Zealand Cups (Gr 1, 2m) and second in a Wellington Cup (Gr 1, 2m).
Princess Mellay’s story does not end there. She was mated with the stud’s second great acquisition Noble Bijou and foaled Prince Majestic who triumphed in three Sydney Group 1s. He went one better than his mum by winning 19 races (13 stakes races) and to cap it all, Princess Mellay was named Broodmare of the Year in 1982.
Loftys Gift’s third dam Lal’s Gift (Noble Bjou) is a sister to Prince Majestic. Lal’s Gift produced two Group 3 winners as well as Laura Dee (Personal Escort), the dam of Wellington Cup and twice New Zealand Cup winner Blood Brotha (Danzighill). Loftys Gift’s dam is a sister to Blood Brotha.
The Dunedin Guineas was taken out by Loose Sally (Turn Me Loose) who was making her fourth start and second win. She had finished a good third behind the current star of the south, Pivotal Ten (Ten Sovereigns), in the NZB Insurance Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Wingatui last Boxing Day.
The eight-year-old, Our Echo (Echoes Of Heaven), took out the weight-for-age feature and caught punters a little by surprise by holding on grimly from Perfect Scenario (Iffraaj) who had been successful in the 2023 edition as well as last years. The winning break took place at the 200 metres when Our Echo shot clear forcing a rails-bound Perfect Scenario to pull wider to challenge. It was a case of head up – head down and Our Echo got the decision by a nose, the first two well clear of the rest.
Except for a last start flub on heavy ground at Ashburton, Our Echo was in form having landed an open 1400 metres at Trentham mid-January, the start before. In March of last year Our Echo landed his maiden stakes success, also at Trentham, in the Lightning Handicap (Listed, 1200m). Saturday’s victory, clearly his career best, was his ninth and took his earnings beyond $400,000.
Although a sprint winner, extending to 1600 metres of the White Robe Lodge Stakes should not have been a surprise. His dam won up to 2400 metres and his dam’s brother, Cruden Creek (Yamanin Vital) scored the Wellington Cup (Gr 2, 3200m).
Family can do no wrong
Pedigree enthusiasts will know that New Zealand’s leading three-year-old of the current season, Savaglee (Savabeel), and Orchestral (Savabeel), the champion New Zealand 3YO from last season, are blood relations as they are by the same sire out of sisters.
Another very closely related to these two is the triple Group 1 winning mare Atishu (Savabeel). Her granddam Spring is by O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) from the imported mare Head Of The River (Shirley Heights). Savaglee’s and Orchestral’s dams Glee and Symphonic are also by O’Reilly from Chorus, a Danasinga (Danehill) daughter of Head Of The River, making them three-quarter sisters.
Add to the family’s hot run, Marble Arch (Per Incanto), winner of the Blamey Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m), whose granddam Spring Dancer (Danasinga) is a three-quarter sister to Chorus (above). The family can do no wrong lately.
Marble Arch began her race career in New Zealand, placing at her sole start before her purchase by Australian owners and she immediately rewarded them with three successive wins at Pakenham early in 2023. It was a year before she returned to form again at Pakenham but also at Sandown. This season she opened her account with an Adelaide win and in December landed a Benchmark 100 victory at Caulfield.
Boxing Day saw her record her first black-type when second in the Lord Stakes (Listed, 1600m) followed by another Benchmark 100 win, this time at Flemington. Three weeks ago she was second in the JRA Plate (Gr 3, 1600m) and is now a valuable Per Incanto (Street Cry) Group 2 winner with a bank just shy of $800,000. With just a seven day break, a start in next Saturday’s rich All Star Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) is next for the mare.
