In Foal Abidewithme Sprints to Success

The Informant writes:

Abidewithme is in foal and has only a handful of starts remaining, but a stunning last-to-first effort in today's Gr. 2 Preston Rowe Paterson Property Valuers Tauranga Stakes suggested the high-class mare could make a big impact in the time she has left on the track.

The seven-year-old daughter of Redoute's Choice resumed at Ellerslie on October 22 and caught the eye with her late finish into third behind Emily Monk over 1400 metres. Today she stepped up to 1600 metres for the $100,000 weight-for-age feature, and she produced one of the standout performances of her career.

Abidewithme dropped back to last in the Tauranga Stakes field, which was reduced to eight by the scratching of Volkstok'n'barrell yesterday afternoon due to a stone bruise.

The race was run at only a moderate speed, and when pace finally went into the contest approaching the home turn, Abidewithme was left flat-footed and appeared to be struggling.

But Abidewithme showed her quality in the last 400 metres, charging down the outside of the track to pass all seven of her rivals under rider Michael McNab. The locally trained El Pescado had raced to a clear lead and looked the winner, but Abidewithme overpowered him in the closing stages and scored by a comfortable half a length.

“That was a great performance,” co-trainer Jamie Richards told www.theinformant.co.nz. “She's a mare who's in great form at the moment. She's the biggest and strongest we've ever seen her.

“She was served by Tavistock this spring, and she's tested positive in foal. So we've only got a limited amount of time left with her, but I think we could have a lot of fun in that time we've got left.”

Abidewithme is bred and owned by Sir Patrick and Lady Hogan, who stand the enormously exciting stallion Tavistock at Cambridge Stud.

Abidewithme is out of the Zabeel mare Crimson, a half-sister to three stakes winners including the Victoria Derby winner Omnicorp. Crimson herself won five races including the Gr. 2 Championship Stakes and Gr. 3 Waikato Guineas. Crimson is the dam of six winners from seven foals to race, headed by Abidewithme and the Listed-winning Miss Scarlatti, who ran second to Samantha Miss in the Gr. 1 VRC Oaks in 2008.

Today's win was Abidewithme's ninth from 33 starts and boosted her prize-money earnings past $400,000. It was her second Group Two victory, having claimed the Travis Stakes at Te Rapa in 2015 (main picture). She has also won the Listed Ray Coupland Stakes and Anniversary Handicap.

Abidewithme has twice placed at Group One level, finishing second and third in the last two runnings of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes at Te Aroha. She will be given the chance to enhance that Group One record between now and the end of her racing career.

“She'll go to the Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham next and then the Zabeel Classic, which is obviously a significant race for Sir Patrick,” said Richards, who trains the mare in partnership with Stephen Autridge.

“Sir Patrick has also identified the Herbie Dyke Stakes in February, with its great stake of $400,000, as a possible final start. So we're sort of working backwards from that.”