Savy Yong Blonk On Song

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Savy Yong Blonk on song for long-awaited Group Two bid - Richard Edmunds

“She's in good form and working well, and she certainly has the credentials to be very competitive against her own sex on Saturday.”

Circumstances have conspired to deny Savy Yong Blonk a Group Two opportunity three times in a little over a year, but her connections' patience could finally be rewarded in Saturday's Gr. 2 Travis Stakes at Te Rapa.

In March of last year, the classy daughter of Savabeel impressively won the Royal Descent Stakes at Ellerslie. It looked like the starting point of a lucrative autumn, with targets like the Gr. 2 Awapuni Gold Cup and Travis Stakes looming large on her horizon. But then Covid-19 intervened, and New Zealand thoroughbred racing went into hibernation right through until late June.

Fast-forward to this year, where Savy Yong Blonk again impressed in the Royal Descent Stakes at Ellerslie - this time with a strong second behind top-class mare Levante. The Awapuni Gold Cup was again identified as her next target, but a wet week in Palmerston North washed away those hopes, and she was scratched because of the slow 9 track.

Instead, Savy Yong Blonk lined up in the Gr. 3 Manawatu Breeders' Stakes on much better footing six days later, and the five-year-old romped home by three lengths in a dominant performance.

Now Saturday's $100,000 fillies and mares' feature could be a long-awaited ‘fourth time lucky' for the Group Two aspirations of owner-breeders Gartshore Bloodstock.

“She's missed out on a few Group Two chances over the last year or so for various reasons, so we're hoping this Saturday might be a nice opportunity for her at that level,” trainer Jamie Richards said.

“I'd love to see the track just come back a bit (rated slow 8 on Tuesday morning), but we're at the mercy of the weather a little bit at this time of year.

“She's going into the race in really good shape. She's in good form and working well, and she certainly has the credentials to be very competitive against her own sex on Saturday.

“She was an impressive winner of the Manawatu Breeders' Stakes last start. She was given a lovely ride and got things her own way in the running, and she performed accordingly. We've been very pleased with her, and hopefully she can carry on that good form this weekend. She's certainly a genuine mare with a lot of ability.”

Richards has had good success in the Travis Stakes in recent years, collecting a win and a placing with Our Abbadean in 2018 and 2019 along with a placing with Abidewithme in 2016.

In the Gr. 3 Inglis Sales Cambridge Breeders' Stakes, Richards will saddle Pazienza for Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay.

The Written Tycoon filly won on debut at Trentham in March of last year, then spent the spring in New South Wales, where she finished third, seventh and fourth in her three appearances.

Pazienza resumed at Hastings earlier this month and scored an impressive front-running victory over 1200 metres.

“The Breeders' Stakes build-up has gone very well with Pazienza,” Richards said. “She did some nice work here this (Tuesday) morning and is going into the race in the right sort of form to perform well. With a bit of luck in the running, she can certainly be right in it.”

Richards will also unveil some exciting two-year-old talent, with Irish Red, Polly Plum (below as a yearling) and Medal in action across the juvenile races at Te Rapa and Hastings.

“We'll look to split them between those two races this Saturday,” Richards said. “Medal might be better suited to drier ground at Hastings.

“Wherever they line up, they're all promising horses who have shown us some very good signs. We're looking forward to seeing what they can do this weekend.”

Richards has more than a dozen runners spread across Saturday's Te Rapa meeting, and he singled out Leaderboard as one to watch in the Mainline Cambridge 2400.

“I'm really looking forward to stepping Leaderboard up to 2400 metres,” he said. “He's been going well. We'll look to take a bit of weight off with a claim, and he should be a good each-way chance.

“We'll have some nice chances all the way through the day, but as we head through the autumn and towards winter, quite a few of them are probably coming up to the end of their preparations.”