Out Of The Park goes big
Out Of The Park upset the applecart when she produced a dogged late run to take out the $80,000 South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton yesterday.
Handled confidently by Krishna Mudhoo, Out Of The Park ($27) burst to the lead and held out the fast-finishing pair of Monza Circuito and Beneficial to cap a remarkable run of form since transferring to the Woodlands (Southland) stable of Robert Dennis in December.
The Ocean Park five-year-old commenced her racing career from Tony Pike’s Cambridge stable, where she failed to put a win on the board but collected a cheque from 12 of 19 starts, before being offered for sale as a racing prospect on online auction gavelhouse.com. Current owners Mike Rennie and Jack Stewart outlaid just $14,000 to purchase the mare and sent her south to their good mate Dennis.
Both Rennie and Stewart are emerging young leaders in the thoroughbred industry, working for Waikato Stud and White Robe Lodge respectively.
‘‘I’m good friends with Jack and he had seen her on Gavelhouse and asked me about her,’’ Rennie said.
‘‘She had always shown ability with placings in 10 of 19 starts, so when I happened to see her at [former Kiwi cricket star] Brendon McCullum’s place down the road and saw she was a ripper, I was keen to be part of it.
‘‘Robert [Dennis] has done a great job with her. He’s changed things up and fiddled with a few things and she has really turned the corner.’’ Rennie said former owner McCullum was always one of the first to congratulate him via text.
A first-up second placing at Riverton was followed by a win over 1600m at Wingatui, before she scored her second success two runs later over 2000m at Gore. Stepped up to rating 82 company the mare scored handsomely over 2200m back at
Wingatui, prompting connections to aim her for the Riverton Cup (2147m) next month.
That was until the current scenario involving the Covid-19 pandemic turned racing upside down.
‘‘We thought it might be better to try for something a little sooner so we had a look around and settled on this race,’’ said Dennis.
‘‘I’m pretty glad that we did.’’ The victory provided a milestone for both Dennis and Mudhoo, as it was the pair’s first success at stakes level.
‘‘I was pretty confident she had held on although it was desperately close,’’ Dennis said. ‘‘Because it was such a big race, I didn’t want to go the early crow but when I heard Matt Cross [commentator] say she had won, I nearly passed out.’’
‘‘. . . when I heard Matt Cross [commentator] say she had won, I nearly passed out.’’ Trainer Robert Dennis