Saturday 7 November will be a date that lives in the memory of the Chittick family and everyone involved in their Waikato Stud breeding operation as they produced a winning double on the last day of the 2026 Melbourne Cup Carnival with longshot prospect Sun Gift (NZ) (Savabeel) winning the Gr 2. Matriarch Stakes (2000m) and talented Super Seth mare Superfabulistic saluted in a Benchmark event.
The six-year-old daughter of the Stud’s champion sire Savabeel, who sadly passed away in June this year, wasn’t expected to feature in the finish of the Group Two contest for the fillies and mares, however nobody informed the Danny O’Brien-prepared prospect of that opinion.
Ridden superbly by ex-pat kiwi Michael Dee, Sun Gift began well with Dee having her running just behind leader Pillow Fight after crossing from a wide barrier.
Dee angled his mount alongside the leader turning for home and the pair went stride for stride to the 300m before Sun Gift began to forge clear.
Riding for all he was worth, Dee got the best out of the mare, who held out the late challenges of Too Darn Discreet and fellow New Zealand-bred Perfect Ten (NZ) (Tavistock).
Signed, sealed, delivered ?? SUN GIFT digs deep to hold off the challengers and claim the Group 2 @tabcomau One Pool Matriarch Stakes. #StakesDay https://t.co/VUK75m1pP0
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 7, 2026
Dee was delighted to secure the victory after finishing runner-up on the mare on several occasions and put the victory down in part to the good track conditions.
“I always getting runner-up on her, especially early in her career,” Dee said.
“I always thought she could win a maiden and then I was never able to knock that off.
“A couple of weeks ago here, she was slow away and ran a good race and then she went to Kyneton the other day on the heavy ground and didn’t go a yard, but back here on the good track we were able to make a good getaway, she pinged the lids and put herself right there.
“Credit to her and Danny O’Brien and his team as, to back her up after three days and win like that, it’s a super effort.
“She's a type of horse that's been doing a few things wrong. She's got sort of average barrier manners this prep, and we were lucky enough to jump pretty well today and put herself right up there.
“We didn't anticipate being that close, but she travelled great and it was a super effort to keep running, she’s very tough.”
O’Brien confirmed it had always been the plan to back the mare up after running in the Kyneton Cup (2006m) on Wednesday.
“I always intended to back her up,” he said. “I thought she could win on Wednesday, and then it just rained for the two hours before the race, it became a real tough surface.
“She didn't get through it at all, and effectively just had a 1400 metre gallop down the straight without getting knocked around.
“She’s been bright in the last 48 hours and at seven o'clock this morning, we were tossing it up and thought ‘no, no, we’re running.
“She's got out there and got the right run today. On Cox Plate Day, she was slow away and got back. Today, she's ended up outside the leader, and it's all gone to plan.
“She'll be off to the paddock now. She's won her target race so it’s happy days.”
The 160th SW for champion sire Savabeel, Sun Gift is out of the Pour Moi mare Sunniva (NZ), an unraced half-sister to Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) and Melbourne Cup (3200m) winner Efficient (NZ). Sunniva is also a three-quarter-sister to the Group Two winner and sire Guillotine, while half-sister Cold Shoulder (NZ) (Volksraad) is the dam of Group One winner On The Rocks (NZ) (Alamosa).
