Makarena dances in G2 Golden Pendant
Makarena shows a clean pair of heels to her rivals in the Golden Pendant G2 at Rosehill. (PHOTO: Darren Tindale)
Makarena danced the dance with Group-winning effect at Rosehill on Saturday to become Champion Sire Snitzel’s 148th stakeswinner, and Arrowfield’s 5th stakes-winning graduate from Inglis Easter 2022.
Along with Gatsby’s (The Rosebud LR on 17 August & stakes-placed on Saturday) and Lady Shenandoah (Ming Dynasty Quality G3 on 14 September), her ATC Golden Pendant 1400m G2 victory gives Snitzel three stakes wins in the first 59 days of the 2024/25 season. That maintains his exceptional career average of a black type success every 20 days or so.
MAKARENA is SW148 for Snitzel in the Gr2 Golden Pendant
1/2 sis to Gr3wGr1p Missile Mantra & Gr2p Maximak
Dam a sister to Gr1 We Can Say It Now d/o Gr3 Sky Kingdom@HawkesRacing @ZacLloydx @inglis_sales @ArrowfieldStud pic.twitter.com/9g87n5zynk
— Pedigree Update (@pedigreeupdate) September 29, 2024
Jockey Zac Lloyd was very happy with the 4YO mare’s performance. “Really good. It’s just good to have her back…I was able to get a slipstream off Tropical Squall for a bit and then at the 600 metres I popped out. And I felt like the winner the whole way. She really handled that race well and dictated it.”
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes added, “She is only second-up today, so she is in for a really nice prep. She has got that Group win under her belt that we wanted and we’ve always had a really high opinion of her.
“The Invitation is there, Golden Eagle. It’s all there. There’s no rush. It was just about getting the Group win under her belt, and she has that now, which is great.”
Makarena is out of the excellent broodmare Wecansay Mak (by Starcraft), a full sister to Group 1 winner We Can Say It Now, and dam of Group winner & Thousand Guineas G1 runner-up Missile Mantra, Group-placed city winner Maximak & the winner Wecansay Dun – all her foals to race. Wecansay Mak returns to Snitzel this Spring.
A $250,000 purchase by Hawkes Racing from Arrowfield’s Inglis Easter draft and previously Group-placed & winner of the 2023 Tapp-Craig, Makarena has now earned $755,000 for her owners Gary & Christine Lechte and Jenny, Clare & Jane Hawkes. Her stablemate 3YO half-brother Four Candles (by Castelvecchio) will race in the same colours for the Lechtes.
