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Christchurch training couple Kevin and Pam Hughes shared in the devastation of the tragic events in their home city on Friday but had a job to do on Saturday with their runners at Trentham.
The Riccarton-based trainers joined the country in mourning at the unprecedented level of violence of the terrorist attacks and gained some solace when their Pins filly Emily Margaret upstaged her male counterparts to win the G2 Wellington Guineas.
“It’s great for the South Island, they’ve had a terrible time,” Kevin Hughes said.She is raced by the Findlay family, who purchased her out of Trelawney Stud’s draft at Karaka for $NZ55,000.
Secret Schillings was a G3 winner as a 2YO and comes from the family of multiple G1 winner Avedon (Famous Star). Graduates of New Zealand Bloodstock sales filled the first three placings in the Guineas and also the Listed Lightning Handicap on The Trentham program.Emily Margaret was already a dual stakes winner in the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes and Listed NZB Insurance Stakes – the first two legs of the New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Filly of the Year Series.
She has now had 12 starts for four wins, five placings and $152,625 in stakes.Emily Margaret is the clear leader in the South Island Filly of the Year Series with 14 points and her next target is likely to be the third leg of that series – the $Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) at Riccarton on April 6.
“We want to win the South Island Filly of the Year Series,” Kevin Hughes said. “We’ll try her over 1600 metres in the Airfreight Stakes.”Runner-up Vigor Winner was bought for $50,000 at the 2017 Ready to Run Sale and third placegetter Dawn Patrol cost just $20,000 at the 2017 Select Sale.
The Lightning was dominated by Volks Lightning (Volksraad x Next Century) beating Princess Kereru (Pins) and last year’s winner Ferrando (Fast ‘n’ Famous).
Volks Lightning was a $60,000 purchase at the 2014 NZB Ready to Run Sale and had already proven her black-type quality by winning the G3 Sweynesse Stakes and placing in the G1 Sistema Railway and another four G3 races.Volks Lightning has now had 34 starts for six wins, 10 placings and $228,927 in prizemoney.
Runner-up Princess Kereru was passed in at the 2015 Select Sale with a reserve of $40,000. She has won six of her 24 starts and placed in another eight, earning $221,875. Ferrando was bought for $40,000 at the 2015 Ready to Run Sale. He has had 25 starts for eight wins and five placings, with $262,019 in stakes.Multiple stakes-winning Karaka graduate Sampson produced another top class performance at Trentham on Saturday, winning the Listed NZ St Leger (2600m) by eight and a quarter lengths.
Bought for just $20,000 at the 2011 Festival Sale, the Dubai Destination nine-year-old is now the winner of four black-type races and $437,075 in prizemoney.Sampson is trained by Howie Mathews, whose wife Lorraine shares ownership with good friend Janice Street.
Sampson’s previous stakes wins came in the G2 Awapuni Gold Cup and G3 Trentham Stakes in 2017 as well as this year’s Listed Marton Cup.