While top honours did not go the way of Savaglee in Saturday’s Listed El Roca – Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m), Pam Gerard took plenty of positives from the performance of her colt as he heads towards loftier targets.

The impressive colt was a Group Three-winning juvenile and has flourished early in his three-year-old campaign, winning the 3YO Colts and Geldings contest at Taupo before a storming run into second behind Poetic Champion in the Hastings three-year-old feature.  

In a leader-dominated contest, Poetic Champion controlled a steady tempo under Matt Cartwright and after travelling near the tail, Savaglee was forced widest on the track and was still last at the 300m, before a slashing closing sprint got him within 2 ¼ lengths of the winner.

Gerard was more than satisfied with his effort, which was also a reflection of the progress the son of Savabeel has made in recent months.

“We thought they were going to go a bit quicker, but they dictated in front and we just are riding him neutral where he is happy. They took the pace out and he just had a few traffic issues, he probably got on the back of the wrong horse and had to get out again but his last 200 was pretty impressive,” she said.

“He had a big season as a two-year-old which most of them don’t, I think he had seven starts which is a pretty big ask, but he’s just got a constitution and a nature where he comes home and eats everything. He’s always been a very sound horse, he gets trotted up after each race and the vets say that he’s perfect, so those two factors are a massive help.

“He’s not overly big but he’s very strong, he was strong as a two-year-old but he just looked a bit like a baby, but this prep he has muscled up a bit more and evened out, he’s got a bit more length and physically matured.

“Mentally, he really came to the party yesterday as well.”

Savaglee will return to the Bay in three weeks’ time to contest the Gr.2 AHD Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m), a final step in his path towards the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) in November.

“Hawke’s Bay Guineas into the 2000 Guineas has been the plan right from the word go,” Gerard said.

“We’ve always known that he’s going to want to get further in time and if you can get a horse to relax like that and have a sprint at the finish, he’s going to be very competitive later on in the season too.”

Gerard may have had to settle for second at Hastings, but her speedy mare Shoes was not to be denied in the north at Ruakaka in the Harcourts Just Rentals (1100m).

The daughter of Derryn was aiming to break a bridesmaid streak of her own this preparation, after strong runner-up finishes behind promising types in Twain and Cornelia.

Showing her customary early pace, Shoes pressed forward under apprentice Triston Moodley to find the outside of the leader in Yari, and the pair would end up having a head-bobbing battle all the way down the straight, with Shoes managing to find the line by a nose.

“It was a perfect race for her, she’s been going super against some nice horses at Te Rapa when the track was probably just beyond her,” Gerard said.

“She’s had very heavy tracks to run on and it was great to get her on a better track to run on yesterday, also to not be leading up for once and be able to sit just a half-length off the leader.

“She was tough, it was a good run.

“I was pleased to get the one out of the way for her, I think she’s very fast but how far she can go, we originally thought she could be going right up to open class.

“I’m hoping she still can, but at the moment, we’ll just work through the grades and I’ll speak to the owners around where we aim to go from here.”

Bred by Grangewilliam Stud, Shoes was purchased for just $22,500 at the 2022 Karaka Yearling Sales and has won two races from 10 starts, with $73,360 in prizemoney.