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Celevacci breaks his maiden at Belmont Park
Waikato Stud stallion Tivaci (High Chaparral) sired his first winner on Wednesday when his son Celevacci (3 g ex Celebrate by Savabeel) broke his maiden over 1400 metres at Belmont Park.
Celevacci, who had been a lead-up trial winner, won on debut for part-owner and trainer Adam Durrant who had bought the gelding for $60,000 at Book 1 of last year’s Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.
“It’s really great news and I’ve been saying all along that Tivaci’s progeny will be typically like him, he won his first race as a spring three-year-old,” Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick said.
“I think you will see some real momentum now and there are a lot of good prospects out there.”
The Waikato Stud-bred Celevacci is out of the unraced Savabeel (Zabeel) mare Celebrate, from the family dual Group One winner and champion Sire O’Reilly (Last Tycoon).
Durant’s stable representative Jason Miller said Celevacci had showed an abundance of talent, but was still a work in progress.
“He’s showed a lot at home and he’s still a big, gangly boy. That was showing up the straight – he got there a bit early and he was green and did a good job to sustain his finish from the top of the straight to the line.
“He’s bred to run and we had his half-brother Pinzu, who was a top horse for the stable.”
Celevacci was initially purchased off the Gavelhouse online platform as a weanling for $14,000 by Western Australian owner Peter Caporn.
“Peter bought Pinzu off us a few years ago and paid a fair bit of money for him, $330,000, and after the horse had an early issue he was told he wouldn’t race again,” Chittick said.
Pinzu went on to win nine races, with the son of Pins’ career highlight a victory in the Listed Carbine Club of Western Australia Stakes.
Caporn subsequently sold Celevacci to Durrant for $50,000 as a yearling.