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Raise The Flag mare hands sire his eighth stakes winner
Having her first start at stakes level, nine-year-old mare Madam De Soir (9 m ex Grace De Soir by Volksraad) provided her White Robe Lodge-based sire Raise The Flag (Danehill) with his eighth stakes winner when she landed the Dunedin Gold Cup (Listed, 2400m) at Wingatui on Saturday.
The Danny Crozier-trained mare pulled clear to beat City Slicker (Shocking) by a length, while Orepuki Lad - who is also by Raise The Flag - finished another length and a quarter away in third.
It was a first black-type win for Crozier, who has saddled 49 winners since setting up his Riccarton stable during the 2012-13 season.
“That was a pretty good result,” Crozier said. “She’s a nine-year-old mare now, but she’s a tough old rooster. She got a great ride from Tina, you can’t win races like these without that, and the mare finished it off pretty strongly down the straight. It’s just great to pick up a bit of black type for her.
“Johnny really wanted to have a crack at this race, but it wasn’t easy for him to get her ready in Winton – the track conditions down there made it pretty hard, and there wasn’t much else for her to work with down there.
“I’ve got a nice team at Riccarton that she could train with on some decent tracks, so he sent her to me. Now she’s come out and done the job today, so it’s worked out really well for all of us.”
Madam De Soir is out of five time winner Grace De Soir, who has produced three further winners including stakes-placed Zelenski (Shocking).
Further back this is the same family as dual Group 1 winner Riverdale (Riverton), Group 2 scorer Cedar Manor (Oregon) as well as Listed winners Ruy Lopez (Oregon), Glorious Day (All Glory) and Felaar (Ekraar).
Raise The Flag’s progeny is headed by Group 1 winner Etah James and he stood at White Robe Lodge for a fee of NZ$6,000 in 2020.