Birthday boy savours victory

THE wedding anniversary was a bit of a disaster but the birthday was a cracker.

Cambridge trainer Shaune Ritchie celebrated both milestones last week but enjoyed his 42nd birthday, on Saturday, a lot more than his fourth wedding anniversary, three days earlier.

Ritchie and his wife Alison spent most of Wednesday night at Palmerston North hospital after Alison put a knife through her hand.

The Ritchies were based at Waitarere, near Levin, for the week and Alison had to be taken to Palmerston North by ambulance after the knife went into her palm and out the other side.

The wound was not a pretty sight and too much for Shaune, who fainted at the hospital.

“They were worried about us driving back,” Alison said.

“I was high on codeine and they were concerned about Shaune, who had hit his head.

“Shaune was cleared to drive but it was around 1.30am when we got back.”

Alison needed stitches on both sides of her hand and was unable to strap any of the stable runners at Trentham on Saturday but the New Zealand Oaks result dulled any pain she was feeling.

For Shaune, his birthday turned into an almost perfect day and one he might struggle to repeat.

The Group I quinella in the New Zealand Oaks, with Artistic and Zurella, would be a high point for any trainer but in Ritchie’s case there was more.

Two-year-old Saturn Rock, his only other runner at Trentham, also won and there was another win at Te Rapa, with Moirai.

The only comparable result in Ritchie’s career came in 2010, when he won the New Zealand Derby and Oaks, with different horses, in the space of a fortnight.

“That period, when I won the Derby and the Oaks, was surreal but this takes some beating, especially on my birthday,” he said on Saturday.

The Oaks result was extraordinary, as in addition to being stablemates, Artistic and Zurella are both raced by The Oaks Stud and were separated by just a nose at the line, with the best of their rivals almost three lengths away.

It meant Ritchie did not have to console the connections of the runner-up, who might normally have been shattered at losing the classic by such a small margin.

The only person connected with the Ritchie runners who was not delighted was jockey Jason Waddell, who rode Zurella, while the punters who made Zurella a $2.90 favourite might have preferred the result to have gone the other way.

However, it was the right outcome for The Oaks. “A win for Artistic was a better result for the farm, because we stand Darci Brahma [the sire of Artistic],” general manager Rick Williams said.

Darci Brahma’s oldest runners are three-year-olds and Artistic is his first Group I winner. He is also the sire of Group III winner Darci Be Good, who finished sixth in the Group I Randwick Guineas in Syd- ney on Saturday, and star Singapore sprinter Super Easy.

Artistic, who has earned $267,000 in stakes, will have considerable value as a broodmare, as she is also a half-sister to the Epsom Handicap winner and Golden Slipper placegetter Excellerator.

Williams bought Artistic’s dam, Artless, for A$150,000, in foal to Fantastic Light, at a Brisbane broodmare sale in 2003, when the mare was a rising 15-year-old.

The Fantastic Light foal, a colt, made A$180,000 as a yearling and The Oaks sold a Zabeel half-brother for A$380,000 the following year.

A Traditionally colt made $25,000 at Karaka in 2008 and Artless died foaling Artistic, who was the fourth foal – but the only filly – the stud bred from the mare. Artistic was bottle-reared for a week, before being put on a foster mother.

Artistic, who has raced every month from August, will now have a break though there is a chance she will be prepared for the Queensland winter carnival.

The Brisbane Racing Club, in a new initiative, will pay up to A$20,000 in expenses if the Oaks winner at Trentham also contests the A$400,000 Queensland Oaks on June 2, an invitation that has some appeal to Artistic’s connections.

“It would be nice to try to win a Queensland Oaks for Dick [owner Dick Karreman, who is based in Queensland],” Williams said.

“It’s something we could try with Artistic, because she has a temperament you would die for. But we would consider it only if she bounces through this race.

“Zurella will almost certainly spell now and so will Artistic if we have any doubts about her. They could both go to Melbourne in the spring.”

Artistic was given a lovely run on the outer by Michael Coleman on Saturday, led early in the straight and kicked bravely when challenged by her stablemate.

Quintessential, another who might head to Brisbane, made ground well for third, after settling second last from a wide barrier, and fourth placegetter Poste Restante also came from the tail of the field.

Second favourite Planet Rock ran last. She began to over-race when checked early and was taken to the lead about 1200m out. “Even when she got to the front, she never settled,” rider Damian Browne said.

Chicharita was never in contention, after getting back, and Capital Diamond, who had a good run, failed to run on.