Lady Chaparral upstages Mufhasa

14th Nov 2011

Little fancied Lady Chaparral (NZ) (High Chaparral) upset the multiple Group One winner Mufhasa (NZ) (Pentire) in the Group Three Stella Artois Tauranga Stakes (1600m) at Tauranga today. 

The daughter of High Chaparral  has shown glimpses of ability in her limited race career but at Tauranga  lived up to her well credentialed pedigree and with a withering late run bombed the favourite by one and three-quarter lengths, with the comeback Group One winner Pasta Post (NZ) (Postponed) three-quarters-of-a-length away third.

According to her trainer Chris Wood he was a little surprised at the way she got to the line.

“To be honest I didn’t think she could beat Mufhasa a seven times Group One winner but he seemed to be tiring and she got over the top of him. It was a gem of a ride by Danielle.

“I have only had her for her last seven or eight starts and this time in she has continued to improve each time.  She has plenty of ability and is a really lovely horse and has come to hand nicely this time in,” said the Cambridge trainer who came by the horse after playing in a Sunday golf school with her breeder John Goodwin also of Cambridge.

“I might have a look at taking her to the Group One Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham in early December I will just see how she comes through this race and assess how she goes that way around,” he said.

The winner of the Tauranga Stakes has automatic entry into the Captain Cook Stakes and Lady Chaparral (NZ) has already proven herself at Trentham running third in the Group Three Cuddle Stakes as a four-year-old last season.

Raced by her breeders Shirley and John Goodwin the five-year-old daughter of High Chaparral has now won four races, from her 28 starts.  Besides her third placing in the Cuddle Stakes she has finished fourth in the Group Three Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes fifth in the Group One Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes at Te Aroha and the Group Two Travis Stakes.

Lady Chaparral (NZ) is a half-sister to the 2003 New Zealand Bloodstock filly of the year Bramble Rose (NZ) (Shinko King) who was also the joint Champion Filly of her year, and four other winners.  They are out of the Gleam Machine (Seattle Slew) mare Images (NZ) a winner of three races and a half-sister to the superb race horse The Filbert (NZ) .(Souvran). 

In fact she races in the colours made famous by that horse also bred and raced by the Goodwins.  The Filbert (NZ) not only won 11 races including the Group One Air New Zealand Stakes and six other stakes events but he was stakes placed a further 18 times, including a third in Bonecrusher (NZ) (Pag-Asa) and Waverly Star’s (NZ) (Star Way) iconic W. S. Cox Plate and a third in the prestigious Japan Cup.

His dam the Zamazaan mare Fuaxzann (NZ) was also bred and raced by the Goodwins and also left the stakes performers Red Hawk (NZ) (War Hawk II) and Faux Tiara (NZ) (Grosvenor).