| The stunning performance by three-year-old filly Provocative to claim Saturday's Gr. 1 Queensland Oaks provided great cause for celebration at the home of her remarkable sire Zabeel as he equalled his illustrious father Sir Tristram as the sire of fourty five individual Group One winners. For Cambridge Stud supremo Sir Patrick Hogan it was a poignant moment that he took time to mark in his own special way. "We've been waiting some considerable time for this victory as it had been awhile since Preferment took him to just one win short of Sir Tristram," he remarked. "To think that he could emulate his father is something very special and when I saw the filly poised to win at the top of the straight on Saturday I knew that day had finally come. "We have a special red rose that is officially known as the Sir Tristram rose and this morning I went and placed one on Zabeel's grave to acknowledge just what he has achieved." Despite being thrilled by the win it has provided Hogan with one small dilemma. "Now that he has emulated his father I'm a little torn in that I'm not that sure I want him to go past old Paddy," he quipped. "For them to stay locked together would be good in many ways, not the least in that they have remarkable similarity in their records. "I don't have the official figures but I'm pretty sure that of the 90 individual Group One winners between them it is nearly an even split of both males and females. Often a stallion will have a skew to one sex or the other but for these two it has been quite amazing how even it has been." As always Hogan was also quick to point out other results from Saturday's Brisbane feature meeting held special significance for the New Zealand racing and breeding industry. "Not only was I delighted with Provocative's win but I was thrilled with Tony Pike's other winner, Sacred Elixir, who is a son of Pour Moi," he said. "To me that two-year-old has quality stayer written all over him. With the remarkable season that Tavistock has had and now another son of Montjeu in Pour Moi producing such a smart individual, I believe both stallions have a major role to play in shaping our future staying progeny. " – |
