Moira and Kieran Murdoch will be represented by a pair of promising mares at Te Rapa on Saturday, and both are half-sisters to Group One winners.
The mother-daughter training partnership will saddle Cambridge Stud’s last-start winner Andorra (NZ) (Pierro) in the TAB Racing Club (2100m). Just over half an hour later, Butterscotch (NZ) (Preferment) will line up for her first raceday start for owner-breeder Joan Egan in the Cure Kids (1400m).
Cambridge Stud owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay paid $450,000 to buy Andorra from Book 1 of Karaka 2022. She is by Pierro out of the Stravinsky mare Pica Pica, which makes her a half-sister to Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) winner Signify (NZ) (Perfectly) and Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) runner-up El Sicario. Another half-sibling, the three-year-old filly Komocean (NZ) (Ocean Park), made a big impression this season with two wins from three starts for New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock.
Andorra has had four starts so far, beginning with a seventh on debut over 1400m at Te Aroha in December. She followed that up with a third over 1400m at Tauranga and a fourth over 1600m at Te Aroha, then left maiden ranks with a hard-fought victory over 1600m at Tauranga on March 30.
“She looked quite promising in that last-start win and has certainly gone the right way since then,” Moira Murdoch said. “We’re very pleased with her. It will be interesting to see how she goes stepping up to 2100m tomorrow. We think she’s a nice, relaxed mare who should be able to cope with that extra distance.
“We probably won’t do a lot more with her in this preparation after this race. We’ve had an awful lot of rain in the last few weeks and we’re running out of suitable tracks for her.”
The Murdoch stable is forming a successful association with Cambridge Stud. They also train the Lindsays’ homebred mare Bella Waters (NZ) (Sacred Falls), whose 14-start career has so far produced four wins including the Gr.2 Tauranga Stakes (1600m) and Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m).
Murdoch also provided a favourable report about Butterscotch ahead of Saturday’s raceday debut. The four-year-old is by Preferment out of the Distant View mare Bunyah, which makes her a half-sister to Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) winner Sword Of Osman (NZ) (Savabeel).
Butterscotch finished second in an 1100m trial at Ellerslie on April 3.
“She trialled up very nicely at Ellerslie a few weeks ago,” Murdoch said. “We were going to trial her again at Counties on Tuesday, but she was eliminated because of the numbers they had trialling there that day. So she’s debuting at Te Rapa instead.
“Her wide draw isn’t going to make it easy tomorrow, but she’s a very genuine mare. Whatever she does in this first start, we’re confident that she’s going to take plenty of improvement.”