Lady Pinot the Professional
26 March, 2016
It was a good start to the day at Tauherenikau with Lady Pinot (3f Starspangledbanner - Madame Echezeaux) taking the first race on the card, the Balance/Matahiwi Vineyards Maiden 1000m. Coming in off 139 days since her last appearance, Lady Pinot in the hands of promising Central Districts apprentice, Leah Hemi put up a determined performance to break maiden status at just her fifth start.
Purchased by David Ellis from the Karaka Premier Sale for $200,000 from the draft of Pencarrow Stud, Lady Pinot is from the well known ‘Echezeaux' family that has provided a lot of thrills and success for the Te Akau team. It proved an astute decision by Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards during the week to target this race, as they planned to head to Taranaki with her on Thursday but with the deletion of the selected race, they needed to rearrange their plans for her.
The plan came to a very positive fruition and this success has taken the Autridge/Richards training team to 69 wins for the season, leading the Trainers' Premiership by 7 wins.
Co-trainer, Jamie Richards reported:
"Everything has worked out very well and it is great to get a win for some very loyal stable clients. We were pleased with the ride of Leah Hemi, she steadied her in the middle stages and found a nice kick up the straight. She appears the kind of filly that can carry on with the job from here and was very consistent last preparation. It is great to see her take that next step and a big thanks to the owners for their patience - she has rewarded them today.â€
Lady Pinot was the best backed horse with the TAB at $2.30 and $1.20, and as favourite she found a lovely position in behind the leader after jumping handily from the gates. Eased in the middle stages by her apprentice rider, she was quick to hit the front turning for home and stuck to her guns to win by 1/2 neck, running 1000 metres in 57.96.
Kicking off her preparation with a win, Lady Pinot looks to have the attributes to go on with the job for her team of owners and team Te Akau over the winter months.
Lady Pinot was strapped by Teina Walters.
Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz