Double Group I delight
IT was a precious moment of Group I glory but Andrew Forsman was keen to keep moving rather than hang around and celebrate.
Forsman and training partner Murray Baker scored a special win with underrated mare Charmont in the $200,000 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Te Rapa yesterday.
Forsman was on course at Te Rapa as Baker handled the duties across the Tasman at day two of The Championships at Randwick.
Forsman happily fronted the Television cameras and paid tribute to Charmont’s owner and breeder Bob Emery, who was not at Te Rapa because of illness, but you always got the feeling Forsman was keen to wind postrace interviews up quickly.
‘‘We’ve got one going around in a few minutes, I’d better go and watch it,’’ Forsman told Trackside TV.
Unsurprisingly, Forsman was on a mission to get himself in front of the nearest television.
Seven days earlier, Forsman had been at Randwick himself to experience his first victory, and Baker’s fourth, in the Australian Derby when Jon Snow won the A$2 million race.
One week later he was watching on a television at Te Rapa as Bonneval gave the BakerForsman partnership the Australian Derby and Oaks double and a Group I victory on either side of the Tasman within 10 minutes.
Forsman was back in front of the Trackside cameras following Bonneval’s win - this time happy to stay and chat but struggling to put the magical 10 minutes of success into words.
He praised Baker and all of the stable’s staff.
Charmont’s first Group I victory, in the last Group I race of the New Zealand season, was made possible by an inch-perfect ride from Matthew Cameron.
Thee Auld Floozie looked home most of the way up the Te Rapa straight but Cameron timed his run to perfection to secure victory by a head.
Baker and Forsman also picked up a Group I placing with Mime who was a long head behind the Thee Auld Floozie.
The meeting was transferred to Te Rapa following issues with Te Aroha track surface.
Te Aroha’s issues were further complicated by record-breaking rain that hit the North Island last week as the tail end of cyclone Debbie lashed New Zealand.
TRENTHAM
Mangaroa Flo Jo may not have had much form to speak of heading to Trentham yesterday but she left with the first black type success of her career.
The High Chaparral mare, trained at Cambridge by Graham Thomas and Nick Smith, was a half-length winner in the Manawatu Breeders Stakes (2000).
The race was transferred to yesterday’s Trentham meeting following the abandonment of Friday’s Awapuni card. Mangaroa Flo Jo, who excelled on the rain-affected track, fought off a spirited challenge from Classic Touch and Robbie Hannam with a further half-length back to Bella’s Delight in third.
Hannam was forced to settle for second in the Breeders Stakes but earlier in the day, the Awapuni-based jockey brought up his 1000th winner on New Zealand soil in race three at Trentham.
Hannam had been stringing along his many supporters for more than a month with his 999th winner coming way back on March 2 at Hastings.
The Awapuni-based Hannam, a seven-time Group I winning jockey, had gone close plenty of times - with a run of seconds - but his victory aboard the Grant Nicholson-trained Artaxerxes in TRISH DUNELL the Gingernuts Cup maiden was worth the wait.
Hannam worked Artaxerxes into a handy spot and injected him into the race down the outside to score a convincing one and a quarter length victory.
In a special moment, Hannam thrust his whip into the air as he turned to salute the Trentham faithful.
The Trentham crowd and his fellow jockeys gave the well respected Hannam a rousing reception when he returned to scale.
The milestone was Hannam’s 1000th winner in New Zealand.
He also rode more than 200 winners during a three-year stint riding in India where he won two jockeys’ premierships.
Hannam becomes the 32nd New Zealand jockey to ride 1000 winners on home soil.
Terry Moseley became the 31st when he brought up the milestone back in February.
RICCARTON
Invercargill trainer Sally McKay’s long trek north to Riccarton has been rewarded with black type success for her three-year-old filly Showemup.
The Showcasing filly ploughed through the testing heavy 10 surface to score a three-quarters of a length win in the $50,000 Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Airfreight Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton yesterday.
Kevin Kalychurun positioned Showemup in the trial behind Dontpokethetiger and he stuck to the rail to beat home the fast finishing Tony Pike-trained Grand Soleil in second.
Dontpokethetiger held on for third but was six lengths behind Grand Soleil.
Residential, the race favourite, appeared to struggle with the testing track but battled on to finish six, nine lengths behind Showemup.
One race later, Tommy Tucker showed his class and toughness when lumping 60kg and still being two and a half lengths too good in the $50,000 Listed Christchurch Casino Easter Cup (1600m).
The Brian and Shane Anderton-trained son of Gallant Guru was carrying 6kg more than any other runner in yesterday’s field.
His win gave stable apprentice Jacob Lowry his third win on the card.