First Serve aimed at Telegraph
Michael and Matthew Pitman are expecting to be regular North Island visitors in the coming months.
The father and son partnership have eyes on major sprinting features with First Serve and Kinagat while other members of their Riccarton stable are also likely to be in action at Trentham in January.
‘‘First Serve’s next start will almost certainly be in the Listed sprint at Dunedin on Boxing Day and then on to the Telegraph,’’ Michael Pitman said. ‘‘Hopefully, we’ll have others at the Wellington Cup carnival. South Island horses go well there because we’ve got consistent racing here to get them ready.’’
First Serve won for the sixth time in her eight start career when she claimed the Gr.3 Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes during the New Zealand Cup carnival.
‘‘She’s had 10 days off after that and the plan for cup week was to get black type for her so it was great to win a Group Three.
‘‘She could possibly have a go at the NRM Sprint at Te Rapa later on as well.’’
Listed Pegasus Stakes runnerup Kinagat is another with a northern challenge ahead of him.
‘‘He’s going up for the Concorde and after that we’ll decide whether he goes back for the Railway,’’ Pitman said. ‘‘He’s nominated for the Telegraph as well.’’
Kinagat has already proved his worth on the road with a victory at Ellerslie earlier this year to his credit.