Our Abbadean Hunts Back-toBack

The Informant reports:

Two weeks on from her first stakes win, Our Abbadean will try to double her black-type tally when she lines up in Saturday's $75,000 Listed Royston Hospital Hawkes Bay Cup.

After going winless in her first four appearances this season, the daughter of Lookin At Lucky has found a rich vein of form. She won an open handicap at Trentham in early March, then hit a new career high with a victory over Five To Midnight and Sampson in the Gr. 2 Awapuni Gold Cup on March 31.

“It was great to see her get that first stakes' win at Awapuni,” co-trainer Stephen Autridge said. “What I've always said about this mare is that once she hits a bit of form, she tends to hold on to it. She's developing into a very handy stayer.”

Autridge and his training partner Jamie Richards have been more than satisfied with Our Abbadean's progress since that win and believe she can be competitive again this weekend.

“Her work this (Tuesday) morning was very good, and provided she gets reasonable track conditions at Hastings on Saturday, I would expect her to be right in it.”

Autridge and Richards are keen to collect as much black type as possible with Our Abbadean, who is raced by her breeders, the Hawkins family's Llanhennock Trust. The five-year-old is likely to head to Te Rapa later this month for another Group Two assignment.

“At this stage the plan is to run in the Hawkes Bay Cup on Saturday and then carry on into the Travis Stakes (April 28),” Autridge said.