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A love affair with the Ellerslie track played out again on the weekend for Cambridge galloper Ruud Not Too when she took out her fourth victory at New Zealand’s premier venue.
The Stephen Marsh trained five-year-old has only finished out of the money once in nine starts at Ellerslie and numbers the Gr.2 Rich Hill Mile (1600m) amongst her victories. Her latest win came in fine fashion as she dashed away from some quality opposition in the $50,000 Royal Descent Stakes (1600m) on Saturday.
The Bernardini mare was backing up from a gritty placing over 1400m behind Yearn seven days earlier at the venue, with rider Danielle Johnson confident the step up to the mare’s favourite distance would work in her favour.“We knew she backs up well and looking at the field, she had beaten these type of horses before, so I was pretty confident,” she said.
“I guess there was a question mark with the weight (58kgs) she had to carry but this is her pet distance.”Go Racing syndications principal Albert Bosma, who purchased the mare for $220,000 from the Cambridge Stud draft at the 2014 Karaka Premier Sale, cut a satisfied figure after the race.
“I think a mile is her best distance,” he said.“She just got nailed over 1400m last week, so we knew she was in good form and she just loves Ellerslie.
“We thought she was on target and she does back up well.”Ruud Not Too is raced by the Go Racing Ruud Not Too Breeding Partnership, which is one of the many syndications put together by Bosma and business partner, Patrick Vinaccia.
“We have a really good ownership group,” he said.“It’s not the biggest group with eight or ten people including some long-term owners and some first timers.
“They’ve got themselves a nice filly and a valuable one as a Group Two winner.”Bosma advised the next target for the mare would be the Gr.1 Fiber Fresh NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes (1600m) at Te Aroha on 7 April with the possibility of a step up in distance in the Gr.2 Travis Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa later that month.