Second Leg Winning Double

Te Akau's other leg of its winning double came at the Marton meeting at Awapuni.

The Marton JC stages only two race meetings per year and at its previous meeting Te Akau was also celebrating the win of Thrive in the feature Group 3 Merial Ancare Metric Mile - today it was the turn of Precious Time on Marton Cup day:

Second up off a long spell, Precious Time (6 m Stravinsky - Ana Zeel, by Zabeel) showed she had lost none of her spark with a brilliant victory in the Farmlands Premier Rating 85 on Saturday Jan. 11 at Awapuni.

When resuming from a 430-day break, after receiving a minor tear to a tendon, Precious Time had the ideal resuming run when finishing fifth on Dec. 31 in the Benchmark 85 1480 metres at Stratford, ridden by talented apprentice Mick Dee.

Given a lovely ride on this occasion by Kelly Myers, the richly bred mare, owned by Christopher and Susanna Grace, was purchased for them by Te Akau principal David Ellis, from the draft of Cambridge Stud, at the 2009 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale.

Her dam, Ana Zeel, was Group placed on a couple of occasions in a career of three wins (1900m - 2170m), and hails from the family of the stallions Grosvenor (Sir Tristram), Lonhro (Octagonal), Niello (Octagonal) and talented mare La Sizeranne (Stravinsky).

Settling eighth off a wide gate and four back on the inner throughout, Precious Time squeezed through a narrow gap near the rail at the 250 metres and found a good sprint to win narrowly.

“She won well,” said Myers. “She pricked her ears and tried to pull herself up once she hit the front like she was having her maiden win. She did it easily", said Myers, of the mare that has now won four of her twelve starts.

Te Akau trainer Jason Bridgman has shown a great deal of patience with Precious Time and the whole team has had a hand in keeping her sound through her rehabilitation and return to the races.

“It was a very satisfying result with the patience shown by Christopher & Susanna Grace to bring her back after a minor tendon injury,” said Bridgman.

“She had shown a lot of potential early in her career, is lightly raced and very well-bred. The plan coming back is to try and get some black type and this is her first step towards top form. So, it is very gratifying and particularly to win on a premier day second up, and effectively fresh up off fourteen months, without a trial is just testament to the ability of the mare.

“She has pulled up well immediately after the race and we will just have to monitor her,” said Bridgman.

Bridgman mentioned the possibility of the Duoro Cup (Benchmark 85, 1600m) on Jan. 25 at Trentham, and Wairarapa Breeders' Stakes (Listed, 1600m) on Feb. 6 at Tauherenikau, as possible targets for Precious Time.

The Grace family has had a long association with the Marton Jockey Club, making Saturday's success even more special.

Picture credit - www.raceimages.co.nz (that's her patrially obscured on the inside in the green colours, white cap)