Verry Elleegant has been the flagbearer for her sire Zed in recent times and she further enhanced his profile on Saturday when winning the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) at Rosehill.
A son of legenday sire Zabeel, Zed has sired two individual Group One winners, with 2013 Gr.1 Makfi Challenge Stakes (1400m) winner Survived and now the triple Group One winning mare.
Verry Elleegant had been in good form heading into Saturday, finishing fourth in the Gr.2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) before runner-up performances in the Gr.1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) and Gr.1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m).
She showed her class when distancing her rivals in the straight on Saturday to win by 4.3 lengths over Mustajeer, with Avilius finishing third.
Grangewilliam Stud principal Mark Corcoran, who stands Zed, was delighted with the win in what has been a trying few weeks.
“It was a huge result, she won pretty impressively,” he said. “She is just settling so much better now.
“She has been a bit tricky, but it looks like they have got to the bottom of her now, which is great.
“Zed’s are pretty slow-maturing horses and she is getting stronger and bigger all the time, so I think next season she is going to get even better.
“I hope she gets a run in the Queen Elizabeth (Gr.1, 2000m), but who knows what is going to happen with racing over there.”
While Zed served 63 mares last breeding season at $6,000+GST, 18 less than the season prior, Corcoran said the influence of Verry Elleegant’s success can be seen in the increased Australian interest at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale earlier this year.
The full-brother to Verry Elleegant was one of those, with Western Australian bloodstock agent John Chalmers going to $140,000 to secure the colt presented by Grangewilliam Stud.
“Zed had a bit more Australian interest in him. He served 60-odd mares last season and it’s good to see him getting supported.
“Not a lot of Zed horses go through the yearling sale, but all but two of them were sold to Australia this year. It certainly makes a big difference at that end.”
“They sprint, they stay, they run on top of the ground and on the wet, and they jump. They are versatile horses and they just keep going.
“What she has done has certainly helped and it’s great seeing more go over to Australia. That’s only going to help him further.”
While he was pleased with the weekend’s success Corcoran is busy taking every measure possible during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of his family and staff, and said it was great having the assistance of his children during this time.
“We have just got to carry on,” he said. “We run a skeleton crew, you have just got to keep moving.
“The feed suppliers are still dropping feed off. We are still getting fuel and feed, so we are all right.
“At this stage it is myself, one worker, my wife, and a couple of kids. They are a great help.” – NZ Racing Desk
