Bargain buy upsets the favourites at Wingatui

Riccarton based trainer Peter Rudkin was fairly sure he had secured a bargain when he took home a two-year-old Darci Brahma filly from the annual New Zealand Bloodstock Mixed Bloodstock Sale back in May last year.

That theory was proved correct at Wingatui on Saturday when Honor That scored her second and most important victory for Rudkin with a determined performance to take out the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Airfreight Stakes (1400m).

Rudkin had missed out on his first choice at Karaka during the annual three day auction but liked the look of the tiny but well proportioned filly that had finished fourth in her three raceday starts before being offered through the auction ring.

Rudkin willingly outlaid his $4,000 to purchase the filly and recouped most of his investment when she finished second to subsequent Group One placegetter Dezzies Dream a fortnight later in her first run from her new southern home. By then Rudkin had agreed to sell 50% of the filly to longtime stable client Terry Lines who had also taken a fancy to her when he was visiting Rudkin’s home base one morning.

“Terry had come around to watch a couple of his horses work and when he saw her he immediately asked me about her,” he recounted.

“I told him I had bought her for four grand so he told me he would like to buy a share in her as he had raced one that was 17 hands high and wanted to race one that was about half that size. We had a good laugh but I did tell him that even though she was only a tick over 14 hands she had a pretty good motor under the hood.”

Rudkin’s judgement was spot on with the filly finishing second twice before notching a maiden win at just her third southern start. Taken north for a shot at Listed company in the Ryder Stakes at Otaki, Honor That also proved to Rudkin that she was a real duffer on wet tracks when finishing well back on a Heavy 10 surface.

Spelled immediately after the Otaki run Honor That began her three-year-old campaign in October and although having not won in nine subsequent starts, Rudkin was confident of a good performance on the weekend.

“She had been going well without a whole lot of luck since we brought her back in this time,” he said.

“She had been very unlucky at Cromwell one day when she flew home for second and had also gone well at her last two starts.

“We didn’t think Saturday’s field was overly strong although, in saying that, we would have been happy to have run in the first five.”

In a truly run race Honor That came with a sustained bid in the home straight to dash past Cantilena in the closing stages to score impressively by more than a length with northern visitor Princess Davone finishing third.

Rudkin will now give the filly another start over a mile before tackling the Listed New Zealand Bloodstock Warstep Stakes (2000m) at Riccarton on the 23rd of April.