Residential riding high down south
Southland Guineas winner Residential will chase three more black type targets before her season is done.
The pins filly was a commanding four-length winner of the $50,000 Listed Southland Guineas at Ascot Park yesterday to make it two Listed wins on the trot following her Dunedin Guineas victory 14 days earlier.
Apprentice jockey Gosen Jogoo, along with his employers John and Karen Parsons, will now aim Residential at Listed races at Wingatui on March 4, Riccarton on April 8 and, all going well, she will step up to 2000m in the Listed Warstep Stakes two weeks later.
Residential’s dam, Metropolitan, ran second and fourth in the Dunedin and Southland Guineas races, before running 10th in the Warstep in 2009.
The Parsons’ are confident Residential will run out a strong 2000m.
On a stellar day for Jogoo and the Parsons training partnership, they teamed up for three winners with Tickets On Her and Tantella joining Residential in the winner’s circle.
Karen Parsons was full of praise for Jogoo who is riding high on confidence following the Dunedin Guineas success.
‘‘He rode superb today. He got Tantella home from the outside gate and once he got to the front with Residential you knew he was going to be hard to beat,’’ she said.
Ironically, Jogoo beat home his mentor, Chris Johnson, who rode Starvoia to second in the Guineas to give the Parsons’ the quinella.
‘‘I said to him that Chris wouldn’t be easy to beat in the Guineas because the tutor doesn’t like being beaten by the boys,’’ Parsons quipped.
Residential, bred by Waikato Stud and raced by Mark Ritchie, Jason Wardle, Michael Piaggi, Henry and Ron Williamson, Leslie and Ann Seaton plus John and David Nixon, took her earnings to a tick under $90,000 with her fourth win in just 10 starts.
Parsons confirmed Starvoia will head to the same Wingatui race as Residential and will likely have the blinkers added.
Meanwhile, there was a strong touch of deja vu at Ascot Park yesterday with La Nouvelle Vague, who like Residential, was a winner on Champions day at Wingatui, taking out his second feature in as many starts.
The promising stayer once again combined with Leah Hemi to win the $40,000 Sheet Metalcraft Invercargill Gold (2600m).
Fresh of their success in the Listed Dunedin Cup, Hemi and La Nouvelle Vague were victorious by three-quarters of a length for Riverton trainers Graham and Michael Eade.
The 6-year-old son of St Reims has now won five of his 20 starts and looks destined for a big future in the staying ranks.
La Nouvelle Vague brave Oor Wullie. beat home a