Kim Reid bypassed a Group One in favour of Sunday’s Gr.3 Gee and Hickton Funeral Directors Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham with Hi Yo Sass Bomb, a decision that paid dividends when the mare led from the outset to claim her third stakes success.
After resuming in early September, Hi Yo Sass Bomb showed she was back in a big way when taking out the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Breeders Stakes (1400m) at Hawera earlier this month, coming over the top of her rivals in the hands of Chris Dell.
Dell had been set to ride the mare in the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) last Saturday at Ellerslie, a race she finished runner-up in last year behind Snazzytavi, but Reid opted to wait another week, setting her for the Thompson where she carried 57kg under handicap conditions.
A contrast to her run in the Breeders’, Dell opted to punch forward from the gate and take the early lead, where he was able to steal some cheap sectionals through the mid-stages.
Hi Yo Sass Bomb was travelling strongly into the straight and kicked hard, too hard for race favourite The Scunner and Trosettee to chase down, with the remainder of the field finding it tough to make up ground off the slow tempo.
Reid hadn’t expected to see her mare in front in the running but praised Dell’s ride, maintaining a perfect strike rate from two rides on Hi Yo Sass Bomb.
“I thought she was definitely in the zone, she was cool and calm and that’s her when she’s at her best,” Reid said. “It’s when she’s a bit fidgety that I get worried, but she was good.
“There were a few little things and she just wasn’t quite right last week so it suited her perfectly (to run in the Thompson).
“I was thinking ‘crikey Chris’ going to the front, but she was super, she’s really tough. I was thinking don’t go too soon, but it was a super ride, really well done.”
A homebred out of the Spartacus mare Hi Yo Soo, Hi Yo Sass Bomb has now earned over $450,000 with seven wins and six placings from 26 starts for Reid and her parents, Josephine and Graeme Reid.
With a placing already at the highest level, Reid is eyeing another elite-level target for Hi Yo Sass Bomb back at Trentham, the Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic (1600m) on December 6.
“She’s going out in the paddock for a week, then we’ll possibly come back for the mile in December,” she said. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
