A determined victory in Saturday’s New World Otaki Handicap (1600m) took under-rated mare Sumi past $200,000 in prize-money.
Trainer and part-owner Allan Sharrock sent Sumi to Otaki as something of an afterthought, seeking to avoid a clash with stablemates Ladies Man and Islington Lass in the Gr.3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham next Sunday.
But that change of plans delivered a perfect result, with Sumi surging home from second-last to record the seventh win of her 34-start career.
Sumi and apprentice jockey Lily Sutherland settled more than half a dozen lengths off the pace through the early stages of Saturday’s race, as Tobias and Australian raider Rolls raced side by side down the Otaki back straight.
The field bunched up coming down the side of the track, and then Sumi, The Underbelly and Orlov all swooped past the leading pair soon after straightening for home.
Those three had the race to themselves through the final 200m, and it was Sumi who found the most and pulled away to beat Orlov by three-quarters of a length. The Underbelly finished the same margin away in third.
Sumi’s career has been a source of pride for Sharrock, who paid just $4,500 to buy the daughter of Atlante as a yearling at Karaka in 2019. She has now earned almost 50 times that amount.
“She did a very good job to win that race today,” the New Plymouth trainer said. “She’s a very genuine mare and that takes her past $200,000 in stakes.
“I was tempted to breed from her this season, because she’s already got a couple of black-type placings to her name and I didn’t think she had much more to prove. But the other owners were keen to have a bit more of a go with her on the racetrack first. She’s delivered a good win for us today and can definitely pocket a bit more cash through the rest of this season. She’s not a bad pony, that’s for sure.”
Sumi has twice finished third at stakes level, chasing home Wessex in last year’s Gr.3 Rotorua Stakes (1400m) and then Islington Lass in the Listed Rangitikei Cup (1600m) in May of this year.
Sharrock is comfortable with his decision to sidestep next weekend’s Thompson Handicap with the seven-year-old.
“The main reason for running her today was that I didn’t want to run her against the two stablemates in the Thompson next week,” he said. “She’s been competitive against Islington Lass previously, but I think she’d probably have her work cut out against Ladies Man. You can’t win one race with three horses, so it made sense to split them up. It’s worked out well today with a good win.
“We’ll keep picking out suitable races for her up until around Christmas, then probably back off her for a while and think about the autumn. She’ll definitely go to a stallion next spring.”