Russian Fable was set to head to the spelling paddock following her last start fifth placing at Greymouth, but trainer Nayton Mitchell was pleased he made the decision to have one final roll of the dice with his mare.
The West Melton horseman elected to back her up in the Greg Daly Real Estate/Birchfield Ross Mining (1400m) at Reefton on Tuesday and she rewarded him with her sixth victory and the second in Mitchell’s career.
She jumped well and jockey Yogesh Atchamah was able to find the one-one with his mare. She enjoyed an economical passage until Atchamah asked her to improved at the 600m mark and Russian Fable sat three-wide outside June Bug and leader Wild Rover.
June Bug began to tire, leaving Russian Fable and Wild Rover to fight it out in the straight, with the former getting the better of her rival in the closing stages to win by a neck.
Mitchell was delighted to get the win, particularly for owner and fellow trainer Andrew Carston.
“We were really stoked to get the win,” Mitchell said. “We set her up for the Miss Scenicland Stakes (1500m) at Greymouth where she did try hard but the track conditions just got to her.
“She was going to go to the paddock after that but we decided to give her one more run.
“Andrew is a big supporter of the stable, so it was great to get the win for him.”
Russian Fable will now head for her planned spell before returning to racing closer to winter for the polytrack season.
“She has been running really honestly but she just gets out-classed at this time of the year, so she is going to go in the paddock now and have a rest until the poly,” Mitchell said. “She won a couple on the poly in the second half of last season, so we will aim her for those races.”
A former international showjumper, Mitchell has a family background in racing and said it was always on the cards to work in the industry following years in the sport horse world.
“I went over to Ireland and competed for New Zealand over there and then came back to New Zealand and did the young rider series,” he said.
“I moved to Palmerston North and had a sales business there for two years and then moved down to Christchurch and did the showjumpers for another year or two before the racehorses took over.
“We had a team of 10 showjumpers going around the circuit, mostly young horses doing the age-group series, and specialised in buying, producing and selling young showjumpers.
“I have always done trackwork and my family is quite involved with racing so I knew one day I would end up doing it.”
Mitchell currently has a dozen thoroughbreds in work and is looking to add some younger members to his team when he heads to Karaka later this month for New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale.
“We will be at Karaka and hopefully buy a couple of yearlings,” he said. “I have an owner or two who want to buy a young one, so it will be great to have some younger horses to work with over the coming years."