Classy filly’s odds slashed for Guineas
The patient approach adopted with talented three-year-old Travelling Light looks set to pay off in spades for the team involved in the El Roca filly as she gets set to tackle elite company after taking her career record to a perfect two from two at Matamata on Saturday.
Travelling Light will be set for the Gr.1 gavelhouse.com New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton next month, with her six-length victory forcing TAB bookmakers to slash her odds for the Riccarton fillies feature.
The Ben Foote-trained filly is now a $9 Guineas prospect behind current favourites Aretha and Bavella who are both at $8.
That price is of no concern for coowner and breeder Coll MacRury who good-naturedly admits he placed a small wager on the filly shortly after the markets opened.
“I think she opened at $151 but my ticket has her at $101 so someone beat me to it,” he said.
“We have always had an opinion of her so it seemed silly not to back our judgment that she might be able to make the race and maybe win it.”
The fact that he could well have a favoured contender for one of New Zealand’s blue riband events isn’t lost on the self-confessed breeding and racing nut who harbours a passion for thoroughbreds that was formed in his childhood years growing up in Northland.
“I guess it all started when I was a kid in Northland as both sides of our family loved the horses,” MacRury said. “I had a couple of uncles that raced a few and my dad loved his racing as well.
“At that stage we couldn’t afford to race any ourselves but that changed later on once I got into my working career.”
MacRury, who is chief executive for the Australian-owned meat processing and packaging operation Wammco International, got his start in the meat industry as a teenager at the AFFCO New Zealand plant at Horotiu.
“My first job was as a teenager in the fellmongery at AFFCO Horotiu,” he said.
“While I was there, I was also studying and completed a degree in Meat Technology while later on I also got my MBA from Waikato University.
“I’ve been with Wammco for the last 11 years as their CEO. They have two major plants, one in Perth and the other in Goulburn, so I spend the best part of each month in Australia although I live here in Tauranga.
“We really think this filly could become a top line galloper,” he said.
“She has a fantastic strength about her but is also very light on her feet.
“She had two jump-outs on very hard tracks as a two-year-old and coped with them well but proved her versatility with her win on that wet track on the weekend.
“Whatever happens we are going to sit back and enjoy the ride as it’s going to be a pretty exciting experience and one I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid.”—