Duchess Maria makes it four straight stakes wins
Classy Father Patrick filly Duchess Maria opened her Spring campaign with a statement win in the inaugural Group 3 Sundon 2YO Trot at Addington on Friday night.
The Nathan Williamson trained filly led from the gate before handing up to Landman, and when Kyvalley Ray went to the front soon after, she ended up three back on the markers for much of the race.
When Ben Hope opted to come out of the trail with Landman prior to the home turn it allowed Duchess Maria to take the passing lane, with the filly showing a devastating turn of foot to quickly collar Kyvalley Ray and win going away by two lengths at the line, with a further five and half lengths back to the third placed runner.
Duchess Maria is now unbeaten in four starts – all at Group race level – and has amassed $110,000 in stakes earnings to date.
Bred and raced by John and Katrina Price, she is out of the four-win Muscle Hill mare Maria Tsarina, making her from the same maternal family as the Inter Dominion Trotting Grand Final winner Galleons Sunset, as well as the New Zealand Trotting Free For All winner Last Sunset.
Father Patrick sired a winning double at the Addington meeting with Father Time making it two wins from two starts this time in when besting a gallant Mighty Logan (by Creatine) in the main trot race of the night.
It was the reigning New Zealand 3YO Male Trotter of the Year’s sixth career win and took his lifetime earnings to $165,268.
Father Patrick currently leads the New Zealand 2YO, 3YO and 4YO Sires Premierships.
In the Northern Hemisphere, Father Patrick’s star Swedish trotter Francesco Zet added yet another feature race to his already illustrious resume, winning the Group 2 Swedish Championship in a new Swedish record mile rate of 1:54.2 for the 2,640m distance.
It was Francesco Zet’s 31st win from 40 starts and took his career earnings to SEK25,406,500 – the equivalent of US$2.7 million.