Parsons’ purple patch

Trainers John & Karen Parsons and rider Tina Comignaghi completed a clean sweep of the stakes races at Wingatui on Saturday when they scored in the day’s feature event, the Group III White Robe Lodge Weight For Age (1600m).

Riding former North Island galloper Killarney, Comignaghi repeated the front-running tactics that saw her nab the Listed Dunedin Guineas (1500m) on El Gladiador, as she dominated the Group Three feature from the minute the starting gates opened.

In between times Comignaghi had guided Sitarist to her first black type victory in the Listed Dunedin Gold Cup (2400m) and made it four for the day on Killarney after guiding Scooby home in a rating 65 2200m contest earlier in the day.

The injury-plagued Killarney, who did his early racing from the Cambridge stable of Roger James and Robert Wellwood where he won five of his 15 starts, transferred to the Parsons team in mid2019 and has won twice from a further 10 starts for the Balcairnbased operation in north Canterbury.

Breeder and co-owner Daniel Nakhle was thrilled with the result for one of his sentimental favourites. ‘‘He is a neat old horse and one we’ve had some real ups and downs with,’’ he said.

‘‘He showed enormous promise early on but an injury to his stifle has plagued him for three seasons so to get this many starts out of him is just amazing.

‘‘Roger and Robert did such a great job trying to keep him sound but, in the end, we were looking at retiring him last year after another setback.

‘‘We decided to give him one more try and sent him down to Karen and John and the straightline type training methods they use.

‘‘I can’t speak highly enough about the effort they have put in to get him back and in shape to win a race like this.

Nakhle was also quick to pay tribute to northern rider Donovan Mansour who is currently off the track after sustaining a serious injury at Te Aroha last year.

‘‘I spoke with Donovan during the week and asked him for some thoughts on how he should be ridden,’’ Nakhle said.

‘‘He gave me a list of instructions and I probably drove Karen and John insane with the number of calls I made to them.

‘‘After the third phone call I’m picking they were ready to tell me to get lost but full credit to the team and Tina as she rode him absolutely perfectly.’’

Bred by Nakhle and his father Elias, Killarney is raced by the pair along with friends John Struthers and Greg Jones.

He is out of the well-performed racemare Irish Colleen who won seven races including the Group II Concorde Handicap (1200m).

‘‘Irish Colleen is still going well and I think it was a good luck omen today as I was down in her paddock this morning giving her and her Zacinto foal a pat and rub for about half an hour,’’ Nakhle said.

NZ Racing Desk

Exciting up-and-comer Prise De Fer extended his winning sequence to five with another supreme performance in Saturday’s Group III Powerworx Taranaki Cup (1800m).

Not far away in elite threeyear-old company last season, the son of Savabeel has gone to a new level since turning four. He has been unbeaten since the beginning of October, when he won in Rating 72 grade at Te Teko.

Prise De Fer progressed to stakes class on New Year’s Day with a big win in the Group II Rich Hill Mile (1600m) at Ellerslie, and Saturday’s $80,000 feature was more of the same.

Ridden by Opie Bosson, Prise De Fer settled in the second half of the field as Jessiegee worked forward out wide to take the lead leaving the straight on the first occasion.

Bosson bided his time until the home turn, when he let his mount rip. Prise De Fer quickly bounded up alongside Jessiegee and Guillada, who looked set to fight out the finish. Prise De Fer took the lead inside the last 200 metres and pulled clear to win by threequarters of a length.

‘‘He’s a promising horse,’’ trainer Jamie Richards said. ‘‘It takes a fairly good animal to put five together, and he’s getting through the grades nicely.’’

While he was previously among the nominations for next weekend’s Group I Herbie Dyke