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Principle too good at Matamata; Mrs Beckham salutes at Caulfield; Royally bred filly gets maiden victory

Principle too good at Matamata

The Ben Foote-trained Principle  broke through for his maiden victory at the second time of asking at Matamata on Thursday when taking out the Carrfields Livestock Matamata 1600.

The son of Pins settled towards the rear of the field for in-form Jason Waddell after jumping away from his outside barrier.

Waddell asked his charge to improve three-wide at the 700m mark and took the lead with 400m to go. The pair attained a three length gap on their rivals when turning for home and sustained their run to win by 4-3/4 lengths.

Principle carried home the colours of bloodstock agent Jen Campin who was still on a high after Wyndspelle recorded his first Group One victory in the Captain Cook Stakes (1600m) at Trentham earlier this month.

Campin eluded that Waddell had planned to take a front-running role in the race.

"We did have a chat earlier, before he went out, and he (Waddell) wanted to take him up front early," Campin said.

"He is a horse who really needs to be ridden cold, so it proved today that he could go the distance and it was an impressive run."

Principle was purchased out of the Book 2 session of the 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Yearling Sale from the draft of Hyde Park.

Meanwhile, Campin said the decision has been made to take a patient approach with Wyndspelle.

"We discussed it with our trainers (Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard) this morning.

"Because Wyndspelle always comes first, we have decided to skip the Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (Gr.1, 2000m) and we will keep him ticking over nicely and head for the Thorndon Mile (Gr.1, 1600m) on January 18."

Mrs Beckham salutes at Caulfield

Flemington trainer Simon Zahra was a relieved man after promising filly Mrs Beckham broke maiden ranks at her fifth attempt at Caulfield on Wednesday.

Sent out a $2.10 favourite, Mrs Beckham raced outside the leader Busby ($4.40) for Chris Symons before moving clear in the straight to win her 1440m maiden by three lengths.

"She's always shown us a lot from the start when she arrived from New Zealand late last year," said Zahra, who trains in partnership with Mathew Ellerton.

"We've done a fair bit with her and now she's gradually improving. When she learns how to chill out and race properly she'll be a nice filly."

Mrs Beckham caught the eye when resuming under Symons in a 1300m maiden at Sandown Hillside on December 4.

She settled last from the outside barrier in the field of 12 before reeling off the quickest final 400m of the meeting (22.18s) to finish third behind Briseur de Coeur and stablemate Little Stevie.

"We drew wide and we thought we could win the race but looking at the bigger picture we told Chris (Symons) to go back," Zahra said.

"She hit the line and put the writing on the wall."

Bred and raced by Valachi Downs principal Kevin Hickman, Mrs Beckham is well named as the daughter of Toronado and the Zabeel mare Posh.

Mrs Beckham trialed twice for Matamata horseman Stephen Autridge before crossing the Tasman.

Royally bred filly gets maiden victory

Blueblood filly Our Crown Jewels has Autumn Group One targets in her sights after scoring her maiden win at Mornington on Tuesday.

Raced in partnership by Peter Moody and Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan, the daughter of Tavistock was having her third career start and her first as a three-year-old.

"It's a great honour to get a winner for Sir Patrick Hogan with this filly," trainer Phillip Stokes said. "She's a filly that is going to get over a lot further, she's very dour. She might be a filly we aim at something like the Oaks in South Australia.

"She's been a little bit hit and miss in her work this time around, so we are happy just to get here today and get her maiden out of the way."

Purchased by Moody for $750,000 out of Cambridge Stud's 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 draft, Our Crown Jewels is a daughter of Group One performer Diamond Like and a half-sister to stakes winners Forever Loved and Zephyron.

Jockey Luke Nolan said Our Crown Jewels showed every indication she would improve with racing and with distance.

"Three weeks ago she was pretty sharp and was going well, and then a week ago she was just starting to dour-up," he said.

"Not trialling her was probably the key to her today, to be sharp enough and be competitive at 1200m.

"We are a winner here today and she's got a deep pedigree and whatever she does from here will be a bonus."