Bryce Newman is content on playing the long game with his talented filly Abbakiss (Microphone), who made a sharp return to the trials on Tuesday at Foxton.
The Bulls horseman unveiled Abbakiss as an early two-year-old and she swiftly showed her talent, winning an open two-year-old event before going down by a narrow margin to To Cap It All in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1100m).
The daughter of Microphone earned her place in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) and did her connections proud in the million-dollar feature, finishing sixth in a tight finish for the minor placings. While further stakes opportunities were on offer for Abbakiss as a juvenile, Newman elected to pull up stumps, sending the filly for a deserved spell.
“We didn’t want to carry on into the autumn with her, we thought she’d done a very good job and were very proud of what she did in the Karaka Millions,” he said. “We decided to put her out, so she’s had three months off and had time to grow and mature.
“We got her in nice and early and have been quietly chipping away, she’s been doing everything we’ve asked and we’ve been really happy with the way she has come up.
“We came to the trials with the possibility of heading to Taupo on the 17th for the set weights and penalties fillies race there.”
Guided by Kavish Chowdhoory, Abbakiss stormed out of the inside barrier but was restrained to find cover behind First Gear. When asked to extend in the straight, the filly responded and strode over the top of Intention crossing the line.
“You always hope they’ll go well and it was nice to see her take a sit in behind the speed after jumping really quickly from the gates,” Newman said. “As soon as he (Chowdhoory) brought her out in the open, he said she was very willing which is nice feedback to hear.
“Kavish was very happy with her, it was only 850m, but she was well ready to have a hit out, so hopefully she pulls up well and Taupo will be the plan now.”
Abbakiss exceeded her trainer’s expectations as a youngster, and with plenty of growing still to be done, he is putting his focus towards races later in the summer.
“She didn’t really look like a natural two-year-old, she was quite long in the leg and quite a tall filly, so she’s definitely furnished a bit more,” Newman said.
“The plan is to not give her a really heavy spring, maybe only two or three starts, because I think she will be better again after Christmas with a bit more strength on her.
“We’ll be quite kind to her in the spring, just the few starts, and we’ll look to possibly get back to Karaka again as a three-year-old. Nothing is set in stone at the moment, we’re just happy that she’s gone well today and we’re looking forward to the next outing.”
Later on the day, Newman was also pleased with the trial of stablemate Bold Belle (NZ) (The Bold One), who took out her 1000m open heat in the hands of Kate Hercock.
