Honest mare What’s New showcased her typical will to win with a gutsy victory in the $70,000 Class 3 race over 1400m on Friday night.
With a record that now reads four wins and five placings from 11 starts, the four-year-old daughter of Casino Prince is the kind of horse any trainer would love to have in the barn.
And trainer Cliff Brown, who bred her out of UK mare Pussycat Dream (hence the clever name!), certainly had that in mind when he shelled out NZ$60,000 to buy her half-brother (by El Roca) at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sales at Karaka on Thursday, hoping those genes he went as far as England to unearth will hit paydirt again.
“We just bought her half-brother in Karaka yesterday. We bought the mother in England, bred What’s New and now we got the half-brother,” said Brown who was at the double having won with another filly in Ararat Lady earlier.
“What’s New is such a genuine mare. She’s such a beauty and a pleasure to train.
“She has a nice turn of foot and the way the track is playing tonight suited her.”
Backed down to $22 favouritism, What's New was actually one of the smartest away, but with four of five fighting for early supremacy upfront, jockey Michael Rodd was happy to ease her back into mid-division.
Nationality (Ben Thompson) clapped along at a solid tempo upfront, but the chasing pack was homing in on him at the point of the turn. What’s New had in the meantime taken closer order as she slid up on the outside four abreast.
Sun Hoplites (Wong Chin Chuen) down the middle and Chocante (Barend Vorster) scraping paint, launched their attacks, but Nationality stood firm. The China Horse Club-owned gelding looked like he might make all, but What’s New did not shirk the task at hand as she lunged on the outside to prevail by a neck.
After threatening for a fleeting moment, Lim’s Revent (Troy See) snuck up on the inside but had to settle for third place another three parts of a length away. The winning time was 1min 23.15secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
“She’s a real delight to ride. She’s a push-button type of mare,” said Rodd, clearly a fan of What’s New.
“She can go forward, she can drop back and come back underneath you. When you light her up, she doesn’t have to stay there, she can come back again.
“Basically, she’s A1, she has a great attitude and a great turn of foot. She’s a ripper.
“She has no problem running a trip like a 2000m race, as she is so economical and puts her head down.
“There was a lot of depth to tonight’s race, a really solid race, but the boys did a great job to bring her back to her best.”
Rodd also combined with Brown to win on $7 odds-on favourite Ararat Lady in the $50,000 Class 4 Division 2 race over 1100m.
What’s New has now earned in excess of $220,000 in prizemoney for the Tarnpirr Stable.
