Progressive filly Goldie’s Chance kept her connections happy when landing the Listed Liquorland Gore Guineas (1335m) on Saturday for trainer Ross Beckett.
The daughter of Iffraaj pushed forward to sit outside the leader Bolshoi Star and was galvanised under jockey Terry Moseley to get the better of that rival at the line, with Abit Sassy fighting on well for third.
The winner of two of her five starts and now a stakes winner, Goldie’s Chance will most likely contest further legs of the Southern Guineas Series with the Listed Dunedin Guineas (1500m) on February 4 and Listed Southland Guineas (1600m) on February 18.
Trainer Ross Beckett was delighted to land the victory as several of her local owners cheered her home.
“It was no surprise, she’s a pretty smart filly,” Beckett said.
“Robert Dennis was responsible for buying her and she is a just a beautiful filly. She has been bought as a broodmare prospect long-term and she is doing a great job.
“She is a bit like me. She is laid-back and doesn’t mind a trip and tends to eat up.
“The owners wanted me to run the filly here and it was a great day out and terrific that everything worked out alright.”
Beckett took over the training of Goldie’s Chance from Robert Dennis, who stepped from training full time in May of last year to take up a role with the Southland Chamber of Commerce.
Bred by Nearco Stud, the filly was purchased by Dennis as a weanling on behalf of Kylie Davidson.
By Iffraaj out of the Zabeel mare Genealogy, Goldie’s Chance stems from the family of multiple Group One winner Sunlight, whose yearling sister made A$2.6 million at the Gold Coast last week.
“She’s by Iffraaj out of a Zabeel mare and that’s a winning combination. Two great stallions and she fell within budget. You couldn’t breed her for the $21,000 we paid for her,” Dennis said.
“I bought her for Kylie Davidson. It is her first horse and they have a family history in racing.
“The request came out of the blue to me to see if I could find her a filly to race and then breed from and I did all of the early work on her.
“Kylie is the co-owner of Hammond Davidson Accountants in Riversdale. The filly is raced on lease and most of the owners are Kylie’s friends and family. She had some health issues and has come through the other side of it and they were all as excited for her as the horse.
“It is the first leg of the Guineas Series and then the Fillies Series follows that. We will let the dust settle and have a look at the Dunedin Guineas next. Whether she goes there or misses that one and targets the Southland Guineas next, we will see what happens in the next few days.”
Despite no longer training full-time, Dennis has maintained a number of clients and hopes to be active at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales at Karaka where he is keen to buy some more fillies to be syndicated.
“I will hopefully buy a couple more fillies. Betty Spaghetti is another three-year-old filly going around that I bought as a yearling and trained her early on.
“Shane Kennedy and Anna Furlong have got her now and she is going to the Dunedin Guineas next. She looks pretty smart too and can hopefully keep the run the going.”
