Photo: Race Images
After winning Champion Three-Year-Old at the recent Matamata Racing Awards, Savaglee (3 c Savabeel – Glee, by O’Reilly) took a step up when crowned Champion Three-Year-Old at the 2024/25 New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards, held on Sunday at GLOBOX Arena in Hamilton.
The black-tie event is always well supported by racing industry administrators from NZTR and Entain/TAB, Clubs, Owners, Trainers, Jockeys, Stable Staff, Media, and the whole gambit of players that make up the thoroughbred racing fraternity in New Zealand.
Purchased for $400,000 by The Oaks Stud at the 2023 Karaka Book 1 Sale, from the draft of Waikato Stud, Savaglee is trained by Pam Gerard at Ballymore Racing in Matamata, and managed by The Oaks Stud GM Rick Williams for stud owner Dick Karreman.
Having made a real statement when winning untouched by four lengths on debut as a two-year-old, Savaglee was back in winning action, extending beautifully, with a smart performance in the $100,000 Fairview Matamata Slipper (Gr. 3, 1200m).
At three, he resumed with a classy victory, drawing clear with his ears pricked, in the $40,000 Poverty Bay Turf Club 3YO Colts & Geldings 1100 metres at Taupo, and won a thrilling finish to the $175,000 Animal Health Direct Hawkes Bay Guineas (Gr. 2, 1400m) at Matamata.
He then asserted his dominance and took another perfect step towards the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) when winning the $150,000 James and Annie Sarten Memorial (Gr. 2, 1400m) at Te Aroha.
Paraded looking immaculate, Savaglee secured his future as a stallion at The Oaks Stud with a soft as you like victory in the $650,000 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai New Zealand 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) at Riccarton.
With similar ease to his victory in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m), he was a class above in the $400,000 Top Kat Roofing Levin Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m) at Trentham.
The Levin Classic win provided jockey Samantha Spratt, who has just recently given birth to a daughter, with her sixth win, and a second, from seven rides on the colt.
Taken to Australia, after proving a class above his three-year-old rivals winning the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) and Levin Classic (Gr. 2, 1400m) in New Zealand, Savaglee combined with Kiwi jockey Michael Dee for a terrific effort, finishing close second in the Australian Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m).
“He means a lot to us,” said Williams, when accepting the award. “He won a Group One, he won a Classic, and almost did the job in Australia.
“Honestly, he’s been amazing and he’s just got better and better.
“We’ve had some good ones at the Oaks, but, obviously, this one is colt. I think his best performance was the 2000 Guineas, but he took on the older horses at weight-for-age and ran third to the two Australian horses at Te Rapa, which takes a bit of doing.
“Then he went to Australia, at the end of a pretty long campaign, and I thought he was going to win 200 metres out, but he found one better.
“I just want to say how much Pam Gerard has been a part of this, and Sam Spratt, and it’s been a good team.
“Pam and Mikey (Thompson) and the whole team at Ballymore have developed the horse, also the staff at the Oaks, and everyone is part of the bigger picture.
“Without Pam and team, the horse wouldn’t have been what he is. It’s that simple. He’s a horse with amazing intelligence, but as a colt you’ve got to manage him a bit.”
“I feel very privilege to have been selected to train a horse like Savaglee,” Gerard said. “Thanks to Rick and Dick, and a good horse makes a good trainer, good jockey, and makes the whole team look good.
“He’s a little bit tricky at times, but he keeps you on your toes and I think it takes you to another level and makes you work really hard to get the best out of him. So, we’re very lucky.
“I think taking him Australia was a highlight. It was a huge year for him, and we’d lost Mike (Moroney) a few days before we got there.
“We have to mention Mike, who had been such an amazing person to racing, and he was excited about us bringing Savaglee over. It was massive, what he did to run second in the Australian Guineas.
“And, obviously, Riccarton, for the 2000 Guineas. I’d never gone there so confident that we had the horse right, and when that happens it makes things that much easier. I just couldn’t see anything beating him that day.
“He’s about to come back into the stables. It’s a huge team effort. Tommy and the boys at the Oaks, the whole staff there, the vets, everything, and everyone does their bit.
“He’s a super intelligent colt that loves variety and it works well that everyone gets their turn with him.
“We’re so excited about getting him back to Ballymore – we can’t wait and counting down the days.”