Sir Patrick & Lady Hogan celebrate Group 2 win

April 2015 has been a month of remarkable career milestones for champion sire Redoute’s Choice and Abidewithme brought up another one at Te Rapa in New Zealand on Saturday.

Sir Patrick & Lady Hogan’s 5YO homebred mare proved too staunch for her rivals in the $100,000 Cambridge JC Travis S. 2000m G2, her first Group victory after two wins at shorter distances in Listed stakes company at three and four.

The victory was more than usually significant for Sir Patrick, a past president & Life Member of the Cambridge Jockey Club.

He said, “I don’t think I’ve had a horse that deserves a big one as much as her. To get it in this race on my own club’s big day is very special.”

Trained by Jason Bridgeman, Abidewithme was ridden by Michael McNab who was full of praise for the mare. “I can’t speak highly enough of her…she gives 120 per cent…she’s got the best attitude and just wants to win.”

Abidewithme is the 75th indivdual Group winner, among 123 lifetime stakeswinners, for Redoute’s Choice, and her success was followed about 10 hours later by the champion sire’s fourth Group 1 quinella, when Wylie Hall and Majmu ran 1-2 in the President’s Champions Challenge G1 in South Africa.

Like the Melbourne stakeswinner Miss Scarlatti, Abidewithme is from the Group 2-winning Zabeel mare Crimson, and has now won seven of her 22 starts, for career earnings of almost $250,000.

The combination of Zabeel mares with sons of Danehill is responsible for 39 stakeswinners, eight of them by Redoute’s Choice, including three-time Group 1 winner Samantha Miss.

Sons of Redoute’s Choice like Zabeel mares too, with Group 1 winner Shootoff (by Duelled) and Group 2 winners Time For War (by Snitzel) & Gypsy Diamond (by Not A Single Doubt) among the results.