Savvy Coup continued the southern sparkle at Hastings on Thursday when she trumped a smart field of fillies in an impressive dress rehearsal for an upcoming classic challenge.
The Michael and Matthew Pitman-trained
daughter of Savabeel followed the earlier winning lead of stablemate Montoya
Star when she cruised to victory in the Gr.3 Little Avondale Stud Lowland
Stakes (2100m).
"Savvy Coup's a filly that's always showed a lot of ability and it wasn't until New Zealand Cup week at Riccarton that the penny dropped with her and everybody knows she won twice there stylishly," Michael Pitman said.
She subsequently headed north to win the Gr.3 Eulogy Stakes (1600m) and finished third in both the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m) and the Karaka Million 3YO Classic (1600m) at Ellerslie.
"She came through that last race really well and put on a bit of weight, which isn't a bad thing going toward the Oaks," Pitman said.
Savvy Coup's performance at Hawke's Bay has seen her odds for the Gr.1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand Oaks (2400m) cut from $7 to $3.50 favouritism.
The three-year-old settled toward the back of the field in the Lowland and when rider Chris Johnson asked her to lengthen stride in the straight she cut loose to account for Milseain and Caricature with Swing Note a sound fourth after racing three wide.
"We were always confident she would improve with the step up in trip," Matthew Pitman said.
"She took a while to relax and she did eventually for Chris. There's a lot of Oaks winners come out of this race so that's encouraging going forward." – NZ Racing Desk.
