Graham Richardson is hoping a successful week for his female contingent can continue after Snazzytavi was a stand-out victor at Te Rapa on Saturday.
The Cambridge Stud-owned mare impressed fresh-up when being caught late by Doddle over 1400m at Pukekohe, seeing her start a warm $3.60 favourite in the Rating 65 1400m event in the Waikato.
Snazzytavi jumped positively from her wide draw but was soon restrained by jockey Warren Kennedy to find cover midfield, while Midnight Special set a strong tempo upfront. The mare was forced near the outside rounding the home turn and Fortunate Son looked likely hitting the lead at the 300m, but Snazzytavi justified her favouritism when storming home to score by a long neck.
A daughter of the stud’s late sire Tavistock, Snazzytavi was prepared by Richardson alongside his training partner Rogan Norvall, the former pleased to see her deliver following promising work leading into Saturday’s assignment.
“Warren gave her a lovely ride, this horse has a lot of ability and she’s just going to get better with age,” he said.
The victory was Snazzytavi’s second from just five starts, adding to her breakthrough win on debut in October 2022, Richardson commenting that her few appearances since was purely down to a lack of maturity.
Having qualified at Te Rapa, Snazzytavi will now head to the Stella Artois 1500 Championship Final on Boxing Day at Pukekohe before looking to gain valuable black-type for Cambridge Stud.
“We’ll go through and see what’s around in the New Year, but getting some black-type for her owners is the main goal,” Richardson said.
The Matamata-based pairing are looking forward to having stablemate Bonny Lass back on course on Saturday at Pukekohe, the multiple Group-winner making her final preparations for elite-level targets when lining up in the Open 1200m.
“She’s really well, I’m very happy with her,” Richardson said.
A minor injury derailed early campaign plans with the talented mare including a bid for back-to-back Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) titles, but a comfortable 1000m victory at the Taupo trials a fortnight ago indicated she will be primed for the Gr.1 Sistema Railway (1200m) on New Year’s Day.