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Coventina Bay lands Group 3 adding valuable black type
The Robbie Patterson-trained Coventina Bay (5 m ex Coventina by High Chaparral) added valuable black-type to her record when she prevailed in a close finish to win the J Swap Contractors Sprint Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) at Te Rapa and in the process handed Windsor Park Stud-based sire Shamexpress (O’Reilly) with his fifth stakes scorer.
Having only her second start in stakes company, Coventina Bay came out on top of a close finish to beat Prise De Fer (Savabeel) by a head, while Vigor Winner (Declaration Of War) was a further three and a half lengths further back in third.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to this horse,” Patterson said. “She’s only 15 hands and has had a lot of issues. She was a real hard horse early on but she’s got the heart of a lion.
“Our targets have been these handicap Group races as she is only a little horse and we can get her down in the weights. It’s onwards now and she had a bit of cheek about her today as she got to the front and pulled up a little.”
Despite Coventina Bay holding a nomination for the JR & N Berkett Telegraph (Gr 1, 1200m) in January, Patterson is considering stepping her up in distance in the Rich Hill Mile (Gr 2, 1600m) at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day.
“She will get a mile although I’m not sure about Ellerslie and going the other way around, but she is a very intelligent horse,” he said.
“I think we have to look at the Rich Hill Mile and then maybe the Thorndon at Trentham after that. I never nominated her for the Thorndon Mile, just the Telegraph, so we might have to change our minds now.”
Out of three time-winning mare Coventina, Coventina Bay becomes the first stakes winner in two generations of her pedigree and she hails from the same family as 1992 New Zealand 1,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Nimue (Star Way) and Group 3 winner Deane Martin (Keeper).
Coventina Bay joins fellow Group 3 winner Embrace Me and stakes-winning trio London Express, Cyber Attack and Qiji Express as the Shamexpress’ other stakes winners and he has seven lots catalogued during Book 1 of the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka National Yearling Sale, which gets underway on January 24.
