Papilio Signals Intentions with Trial Win
03 August 2011
The Pencarrow bred blue-blood mare Papilio has made a promising start to her spring build up with a solid trial win at Te Teko yesterday, with New Zealand’s 2010/11 Champion Jockey James McDonald aboard.
By Australia’s Champion Sire Redoute’s Choice from the Group 2 winning Zabeel mare Lafleur, Papilio hails from one of New Zealand’s most successful thoroughbred families, with the great mares Habibti and Eight Carat both in her pedigree. She is also a half-sister to the Pencarrow owned and raced Amaryllis who won the Group 3 Darley Plate at Ellerslie last season.
Trained by Steven Ramsay & Julia Ritchie, Papilio has only had two starts on the track, both as a spring three-year-old.
“She has only had two starts, she had a few niggling issues with her so we have given her the time to develop and it has done her the world of good,” said Steven Ramsay.
“She trialed very nicely yesterday, she raced just in behind the lead in transit and at the 150 metres mark she really extended and raced away from the pack, it was impressive and she has pulled up well which is great.
“She is a wonderful looking mare, she has really strengthened up during her time away from the races and we are very pleased with her. All going to plan we are looking at the fillies and mares 1200 metre race at Ruakaka in a few weeks to kick off her campaign.”
Pencarrow Racing had a successful season in 2010/11 with stakes winning horses including Guiseppina, Our Ella Belle and Amaryllis. With a majority of the Pencarrow runners back in training, the spring looks a promising time for the team.
“Guiseppina looks great; she has put on a good 30 kilograms during her time in the paddock and has really put some muscle on. We are going to wait and see what the tracks do before making a plan for a majority of the horses, but we will have a number of runners in the Te Teko trials at the end of the month.
“Our Ella Bella is another that has come back in good shape, she performed well last season when winning the Group 3 Taranaki Cup and we are hoping to send her to the second leg of the Hawke’s Bay Triple Crown, The Windsor Park Plate over the mile so she has some big targets in front of her.”