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Savabeel filly Savvy Coup won the New Zealand Oaks at Trentham but Burgundy’s daughter Dijon Bleu claimed the tile as New Zealand’s Filly of the Year after the series came to and in Wellington on Saturday.
Dijon Bleu missed the Oaks due to injury but she still had earned a formidable total of 30 points with wins in the G3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m), G3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) and G2 Sir Tristram Fillies’ Classic (2000m), along with placings in the G1 NZ 1000 Guineas (1600m) and G3 Eulogy Stakes (1550m).
The only filly in Saturday’s Oaks field who could catch Dijon Bleu was Contessa Vanessa (Bullbars), who had 19.5 points to her name with the winner of the Oaks earning 12 points.Contessa Vanessa gave it a shot as she surged through on the inside on the home turn and threw down an enormous challenge to Savvy Coup.
The pair drew away to fight out a desperate finish with Savvy Coup wresting control inside the last 100 metres to win by a length and a quarter.Savvy Coup (Savabeel x Eudora by Pins), trained by Michael and Matthew Pitman for her owners the Bruford and Coupland families, was a $65,000 purchase at the 2016 NZB Premier Sale at Karaka.
She has now had 12 starts for five wins, four placings and $444,625 in prizemoney and finishes third with 24 points in the Filly of the Year Series behind Dijon Bleu (30) and Contessa Vanessa (26).“She’s an incredible filly,” Matthew Pitman said. “The Brufords and the Couplands have been two of our biggest supporters for years so to win this Group One for them means a hell of a lot.
“We’ve been taking part in good races for a long time, but we really wanted to start winning them. We made a plan to target some nice young horses to buy, and this is the result of that.”Savvy Coup has the right credentials to continue New Zealand’s run of success in next month’s $1 million Australian Oaks (2400m) at Randwick in Sydney.
“The way she won we have to go, she’s a very fit horse,” said Pitman.Savvy Coup’s win completed a red letter day at Trentham for the stable after an earlier success in the G3 Wentwood Grange Cuddle Stakes (1600m) with Montoya Star.
Savvy Coup also provided 53-year-old rider Chris Johnson, who opted to ride the three-year-old over runner-up Contessa Vanessa, with his fifth Oaks winner.Savvy Coup was bred by the Chittick family’s Waikato Stud and is Savabeel’s 17th individual G1 winner.
She is one of two winning foals from the unraced mare Eudora, a sister to the G2 winner Legless Veuve and the G3 winner Tootsie.Tootsie is also the dam of the G2 winner Ocean Emperor (Zabeel).
A brother to Savvy Coup by Savabeel was sold at the 2018 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale for NZ$500,000 to the Hong Kong Jockey Club.Dijon Bleu (Burgundy x Pristino by ) was bred by Craig Grammer and the Robinson Family Trust. She was offered by Landsdowne Park at the 2016 NZB Select Sale where she was bought for $26,000 by Lisa Latta.
Dijon Bleu has had 11 starts for six wins, three placings and $306,700 in prizemoney.Another NZ-bred filly Luvaluva, a NZ Ready to Run Sale purchase, warmed up for next month’s Australian Oaks at Randwick with an impressive win in Friday’s Kembla Grange Classic.
Luvaluva is trained by expat New Zealander John Sargent, who won in 2015 ATC Oaks with another Karaka graduate Gust of Wind (Darci Brahma).Luvaluva (Mastercraftsman x Wansesingyee by Galileo) was bred by Christopher Grace and was offered by Surrey Farm at the 2016 NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka where Sargent bought her for $NZ55,000.
She has earned $385,850 in prize money from her three victories and a second from nine starts.Luvaluva is the only foal to race out of the unraced Galileo mare Wansesingyee, a three-quarter-sister to the Listed winner Luvuleo (Galileo).
Luvaluva‘s granddam Ghuroob (Secret Savings) won in Sydney and is a three-quarter-sister to dual Listed-winning sprinter Secret Flyer (Secret Savings).Now owned by Seymour Bloodstock, Wansesingyee has a 2YO colt by Per Incanto before slipping to Burgundy. She was covered by Fastnet Rock last spring.
Luvaluva is one of 46 stakes winners by shuttle sire Mastercraftsman. He is the sire of seven G1 winners.