For the second year in a row, a big autumn stage at Riccarton has brought the very best out of talented local mare Epee Beel.
The daughter of Epaulette secured her first black-type success in the Listed NZB Insurance Stakes (1600m) in April of last year, and she delivered a repeat result over the same course and distance in Saturday’s Gr.3 Donaldson Brown South Island Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).
Epee Beel went into the $100,000 fillies and mares’ feature with no wins to her name from 12 starts this season, but she had been thereabouts with three seconds, two thirds, two fourths and a fifth. Trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman never lost faith in the four-year-old, and they were richly rewarded on Saturday.
Epee Beel drew the outside gate in a field of 14 and jumped as a $22 outsider. The first half of the race did nothing to help her chances, with Ashvin Goindasamy caught wide and left with no choice but to push forward. She eventually hit the lead with 800m remaining, but had used up plenty of petrol to get there.
Chasers fanned out across the Riccarton track to try to reel in Epee Beel, whose tough wide run seemed likely to take its toll. But Epee Beel somehow summoned another big effort, pulling away to score an emphatic two-length win over the strong-finishing Loftys Gift.
Epee Beel was an $80,000 purchase from Landsdowne Park’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2022. She has now had 28 starts for four wins, 10 placings and $207,240 in stakes.
“She’d been going near enough without a lot of luck in this preparation,” said Michael Pitman, who trains in partnership with his son Matthew. “She’s an established wet-tracker, she got a (Soft7) track to suit today and she absolutely bolted in.
“We might have a crack at the Canterbury Gold Cup (Gr.3, 2000m) with her on April 26. All the way through, we’ve been thinking that she needed more ground. But just with the way the racing has been down south in her preparation, the races we’ve been aiming her at have been 1400m to a mile.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk.
