Ellerslie’s new StrathAyr track has certainly got the tick of approval from Daniel Nakhle and Barneswood Farm’s Sarah Green and Ger Beemsterboer, with their silks to the fore once more at the Auckland venue on Saturday.
Daniel Nakhle tasted success on Karaka Millions night courtesy of Crocetti in the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m), while Barneswood Farm’s orange and white silks were first past the post aboard Desert Lightning in the inaugural $1 million Aotearoa Classic (1600m) at the same meeting.
Peter and Dawn Williams trained the latter victor and paired up with Barneswood Farm once more to take out the opening event at Ellerslie on Saturday with two-year-old filly Foreverintime.
The daughter of Written Tycoon was purchased by her owners out of Curraghmore’s 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $320,000 and was making her debut in the Barfoot & Thompson 1100 after a couple of trials, including winning her 950m heat at Tauranga last month.
She jumped away well from her ace barrier and found the trail for jockey Vinnie Colgan before Chance Encounter quickly rounded the fielded, pushing Foreverintime three back on the inside.
Turning for home, Colgan found a gap between runners and Foreverintime continued to extend, heading leader Chance Encounter with 150m to go, and she was able to hold out the fast-finishing Hakushu to win by three-quarters of a length.
Peter Williams said the filly still has a lot of maturing to do, but her natural ability shone through in her debut performance.
“The draw helped her a little bit and he (Colgan) had to hunt her out,” Williams said. “She hadn’t had a lot of galloping because she was quite naughty getting into the gates, but once she is in, she is fine. I haven’t galloped her a lot because of that reason as it fires them up more. Most of it she has just done on her own raw ability.
“She has shown us a lot in work. Since her last trial, she has improved in her galloping. It is very encouraging.”
Colgan was pleased with the winning effort and believes the filly has a bright future instore.
“Her trial form was quite nice and we used the one gate to our advantage. I was pretty kind to her in the run home, she won pretty easy,” he said.
In the following race, Williams was back in the winning stall welcoming back the Nakhle bred and owned Pour The Wine.
The daughter of Telperion had been undefeated in her two prior starts this season and her connections were pleased to see her comfortably extend that to three when taking out the Bentleys Chartered Accountants 1200 by 2-1/2 lengths under leading hoop Warren Kennedy.
“It was a good speed and as long as I could get her relaxed, I knew she had that good turn of foot on her,” Kennedy said. “At the top of the straight she couldn’t wait to get out and once I showed her daylight, she put them to bed really quickly and easily.
“Her previous season she didn’t quite find the line, she had that acceleration, but only for a short distance. She seems to sustain that over a longer period now, which is a huge plus for her.”
Williams said a five-month spell last year has helped to bring the four-year-old mare on, and he is now looking toward the Auckland Cup meeting with his charge.
“She has matured this year and has grown another leg,” he said. “Last season, we always felt she was a bit weak. We turned her out for a good five-month spell and that was the making of her. We brought her up quietly and she is starting to show her worth now. She has won well today.
“We will play it by ear and see what happens, but there are a couple of nice races for her at the Auckland Cup meeting.”