The TAB Racing Club’s silks were to the fore at Ruakaka on Wednesday, with three-year-old filly Transcend carrying them to victory in The Homestead Sports Bar & Bistro 1200.
The daughter of So You Think had one previous run as a juvenile, finishing runner-up to subsequent stakes performer Country Salon at Trentham in May, and readied for Wednesday’s first-up run with a runner-up trial performance over 950m at Cambridge last month.
She caught the eye of punters, who backed her into $2.60 favouritism on Wednesday, and she duly delivered.
Transcend jumped away well from barrier four under jockey George Rooke, who was able to find the rail and trail behind pacemaker Heloisa.
The Lance Noble-trained filly was kept honest upfront by outsider Unrestrained, with the pair entering the straight on even terms. A gap presented between the pair, but Rooke was forced to navigate his charge three-wide, but once she found clear running room, Transcend showed a good turn of foot to run over the top of her rivals to score a three-quarter of a length victory over Unrestrained, with a further 1-1/2 lengths back to Heloisa in third.
Rooke was pleased with the run, but said Transcend has plenty of improvement to come, with the filly still racing greenly.
“She has got a lot more to come, with the prelim and mid-race she is still a little bit green, but I was really impressed with her last 400m,” he said.
Colm Murray, who trains Transcend in partnership with Shaune Ritchie, echoed those sentiments.
“She is still doing a couple of little bits wrong, but once he got her out into the clear she came home really well,” he said.
“She has to improve on her ringcraft a wee bit, but there is plenty of time to do that, we will get there.
“We will just get her home, see how she pulls up and go from there.”
Transcend was initially pinhooked out of Rushton Park’s 2023 Inglis Great Southern Sale draft by Devcich Bloodstock for A$80,000, who subsequently offered her under their Henley Park banner at New Zealand Bloodstock’s 2024 Book 1 Yearling Sale draft where she was purchased by Murray and Ritchie in partnership with the TAB Racing Club for $150,000.
