Always B Miki sires a Group 1 double on New Zealand Cup Day
Always B Miki has firmly established himself as one the Southern Hemisphere’s best sires over the past two seasons and yesterday’s New Zealand Cup meeting at Addington was yet further proof of this, with the stallion siring the winners of both the New Zealand Trotting Cup itself, as well as the Nevele R 3YO Fillies Final.
Last start Victoria Cup winner Kingman was freakishly good in winning the day’s namesake – the $1,000,000 Group 1 New Zealand Trotting Cup.
In a performance that had to be seen to be believed, the 4-year-old son of Always B Miki raced three-wide without cover for the last 1400m of Australasia’s most famous Harness race and still proved too good for Leap To Fame and Merlin, winning by a length and a quarter.
The Luke McCarthy trained and driven pacer has now won 14 races, and taken the scalps of Leap To Fame and Swayzee in his past three starts.
Bred and raced by Mick Harvey, Kingman is out of the Dali mare Gotta Go Dali Queen, daughter of NZ Group 1 winner Gotta Go Harmony and grand-daughter of the NZ Harness Horse of the Year Elect To Live.
Earlier in the day, the Robert and Jenna Dunn trained Celestial Sea became Always B Miki’s 17th Southern Hemisphere Group 1 winner when she powered home over the top of her more fancied rivals in the Nevele R Fillies Series Final.
The winner of five races now, Celestial Sea has banked $153,579 in stakes earnings to date.
Bred by Bill and Ryan Bain, Celestial Sea is out of the Christian Cullen mare Change Time, a three-quarter sister to the New Zealand Cup winner Changeover.
Capping off a fantastic day, JT Boe led home an Always B Miki sired trifecta in the last race on the card when downing Esmeralda and Radha.