Stratford has proved a happy hunting ground for Kay Lane and the Taranaki course was the scene on Saturday for her latest Group One hope to star.
The Levin-based breeder, owner and trainer produced the well-related Figurable to distance his rivals in a maiden three-year-old event over a mile.
“He’s my Derby horse,” Lane said. “He needs to get up over ground and he’ll be going to the Avondale Guineas and after that there’s a few options on the way to the Derby.”
A son of Tobique, Figurable is out of the His Royal Highness mare Figurative and is from a family that has produced an extraordinary number of winners for Lane.“That’s the 44th and we love this course – his half-brother Figure Again won a Stratford Cup for me and their mother won here 10 years before that,” she said.
The family also features the Gr.3 Waikato Guineas winner and Gr.1 Queensland Derby runner-up Figurehead, the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks placegetter Figurante and Figueres who finished third in the Gr.1 Levin Classic.Figurable had finished runner-up in his first two appearances and nothing was left to chance at Stratford. Rider Hayden Tinsley took the gelding straight to the front and they coasted home by seven and a quarter lengths.
“Hayden said he was a bit fresh today, but I don’t mind them leading,” said Lane, who also bred, owned and trained the dual Group One Thorndon Mile and Otaki WFA winner Zvezda.Meanwhile, Cruiser made a successful middle distance debut in the Fritz Reuter Immigrants Stratford Jubilee Cup.
“We thought it was a good opportunity, we’ve always wondered if he would stay,” said Waverley part-owner and trainer Harvey Wilson, a former Olympic equestrian representative.