Group 1 Winner Charmont a Missed Opportunity at Karaka

There was a missed Group 1 opportunity at the 2013 Premier Sale at Karaka as one of the yearlings passed in at that Sale was Saturday’s $200,000 Fiber Fresh New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) winner Charmont (High Chaparral).

A granddaughter of the multiple Group 1 winner and Melbourne Cup runner-up Champagne (NZ) (Zabeel), Charmont didn’t meet her $250,000 reserve at Karaka and was instead retained by her breeder Bob Emery.

She was already a proven top-level performer, winning the Listed Wairarapa Breeders’ Stakes (1600m) and placing in another seven stakes races including the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m). But Saturday’s win was a career high.

Ridden by Matt Cameron for in-form trainers Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, Charmont raced in midfield before unleashing a scintillating sprint in the last 200 metres to edge out Thee Auld Floozie (NZ) (Mastercraftsman) and Mime (NZ) (Mastercraftsman) in a tight finish.

Charmont has now had 24 starts for four wins, 12 placings and more than $290,000 in stakes, and with her blue-blooded pedigree she is worth a great deal more.

“That was a great win and she really deserves it,” Forsman said. “She’s been Group One placed and she’s been thereabouts in really strong races all the way through her career.”