Heavens Keep
Trish Dunell
A tilt at the riches on offer during the Hawkes Bay Spring Carnival next season await Saturday's impressive Te Rapa winner Heavens Keep.
The strapping five-year-old Savabeel gelding has come of age in this preparation for Awapuni trainer Lucy Tanner who believes her charge has the ability to compete at the highest level now he has finally clicked as to what the racing game is all about.
A heady ride from Johnathan Parkes saw him emulate the deeds of Matt Cameron on Xtravagant in the previous race as he hugged the rail throughout to lead his rivals a merry chase over the 1600 metres of the final race on the card. The comprehensive front-running victory was the gelding's third from his last four runs with Tanner confident he hasn't finished his winning roll just yet.
"He's a very exciting horse to have, who's very easy to do anything with," she explained.
"He travelled up beautifully the day before the race, settled well and ate up everything which was great to see.
"He's a typical Savabeel in that he can be a bit tough with some things but he's a true professional now that he's got the hang of the game."
Tanner admitted her confidence increased during the day after witnessing Mime win the Gr. 2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic earlier on the card. Heavens Keep had comfortably held out the filly when winning at Trentham at his last start which suggested another winning run was on the cards.
"When Mime came out and won that big race it just put the icing on the cake for me as I know how good this bloke is," she admitted.
"He's taken awhile to polish up his ringcraft but I'm very very happy with him now.
"We'll go home and give him a couple of days off to see how he pulls up but Cup class is not far off for him now.
"Longer term we're going to give him a good break over the winter and then set him for the Hawkes Bay series in the spring.
"He's looking after us so we're going to look after him!" - NZ Racing Desk.
The strapping five-year-old Savabeel gelding has come of age in this preparation for Awapuni trainer Lucy Tanner who believes her charge has the ability to compete at the highest level now he has finally clicked as to what the racing game is all about.
A heady ride from Johnathan Parkes saw him emulate the deeds of Matt Cameron on Xtravagant in the previous race as he hugged the rail throughout to lead his rivals a merry chase over the 1600 metres of the final race on the card. The comprehensive front-running victory was the gelding's third from his last four runs with Tanner confident he hasn't finished his winning roll just yet.
"He's a very exciting horse to have, who's very easy to do anything with," she explained.
"He travelled up beautifully the day before the race, settled well and ate up everything which was great to see.
"He's a typical Savabeel in that he can be a bit tough with some things but he's a true professional now that he's got the hang of the game."
Tanner admitted her confidence increased during the day after witnessing Mime win the Gr. 2 Sir Tristram Fillies Classic earlier on the card. Heavens Keep had comfortably held out the filly when winning at Trentham at his last start which suggested another winning run was on the cards.
"When Mime came out and won that big race it just put the icing on the cake for me as I know how good this bloke is," she admitted.
"He's taken awhile to polish up his ringcraft but I'm very very happy with him now.
"We'll go home and give him a couple of days off to see how he pulls up but Cup class is not far off for him now.
"Longer term we're going to give him a good break over the winter and then set him for the Hawkes Bay series in the spring.
"He's looking after us so we're going to look after him!" - NZ Racing Desk.