Third Stakes win for Supreme Heights (NZ)

The winner of Saturday’s $50,000 Listed AGC Training Stakes (1600m) at Whanganui was passed in at Karaka four years ago, but is now a three-time stakes winner. 

Supreme Heights (NZ) (Jimmy Choux) failed to meet a mere $10,000 reserve when offered by JK Farm at the 2017 Festival Sale, but she has now had 21 starts for eight wins, six placings and $218,460 in stakes – almost 22 times her reserve at Karaka.

Trained by Mark Brosnan at Matamata, Supreme Heights won the Group Three Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) and NZB Ready to Run Sale Trainers Series Stakes (1400m) last spring, and later placed in the Group Two Auckland Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (1400m), the Group Two Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) and last month’s Group Three Rotorua Stakes (1400m).

Ridden on Saturday by Lynsey Satherley, Supreme Heights stalked the front-running Hartley (NZ) (Azamour), then cruised up alongside that runner and stuck her head in front just before the home turn.

The five-year-old asserted her superiority in the straight, pulling away and maintaining a clear advantage over the late-finishing Crowning Star (Hallowed Crown). She crossed the line with a margin of three-quarters of a length up her sleeve.

“I thought she probably looked the best horse in the field on paper, but that’s not where they run the race,” Brosnan told NZ Racing Desk.

“She tends to like it when the track is a bit better than she struck today, but she tries that hard that she always puts in her best.

“I thought Lynsey rode her beautifully and had her in the right place at the right time. She was very good in the run home and probably held them at bay reasonably comfortably.”

Supreme Heights is now likely to target another Listed feature on June 26, with even bigger targets looming on the horizon in the spring.

“She really has developed over the past season and is at her peak now,” Brosnan said. “Her owners are keen to keep her going, so we’ll have a crack at the Tauranga Classic (1400m) later this month and then put her aside again.

“I really believe she is up to Group One company if she can strike the right track conditions. We’ll bring her back in the spring and take a look at some of those good races. It would be a hell of a thrill if we could pull off an upset at that level.”