‘All she needed was a bit of luck’

Roydon Bergerson was convinced Savaria was the best horse in the Wellington Cup.

‘‘All she needed was a bit of luck,’’ the Awapuni trainer said yesterday.

Luck had pretty much deserted her since her brilliant win in the 2015 New Zealand Oaks, with wide draws and off-tracks frustrating Bergerson and the mare’s owners, Dave and Kay Fleming, of Taranaki.

But aided by Hayden Tinsley’s patience and experience, the fiveyear-old Savabeel mare was able to show her class in the Group III $250,000 Wallaceville Estatesponsored feature at Trentham on Saturday, as she bettered the well supported Jacksstar by a short head.

I thought she was class horse of the field, I have thought that all the way through. I know she has got a lot of knockers and people were saying she should have gone to the broodmare paddock but her work suggested she just needed a bit of luck and she got it yesterday.’’

The bad luck was evident a year ago when the late decision to revert the Wellington Cup back to 3200m ruined plans for her to run as she was being trained for 2400m.

‘‘It mucked our programme up and it all turned to custard.’’

Bergerson said the mare had suffered outside barrier draws in three of her four last starts from the cup and in the last three starts she had returned the best sectional times over the last 600m.

‘‘In her last start (jockey) Shaun Mckay said her last few strides were really good, she was just looking for ground.

‘‘And then she worked so well on Tuesday morning that we were confident she would do well.’’

The trainer paid tribute to 42-year-old jockey Hayden Tinsley, whom he said did not panic horses started swooping around the mare about the 800m mark. Tinsley timed his run to perfection in the home straight as the field fanned out.

‘‘He knew what he had underneath him and I was pretty happy that he was riding it.’’

Tinsley has long had battles with weight and seldom rides as light as the 56.5kg allotted to Savaria.

‘‘He really struggled to lose that last half kilo and was pretty dehydrated afterwards.’’

So what now for Savaria? Bergerson said that will be subject to discussions with the Flemings, who missed the win on Saturday as the forecast indicated rain and they thought she would be scratched. The Adelaide and Auckland cups might be in the mix.