Some nice stories coming out of the race.
Survived's owner-breeder, Don Gordon, has been racing horses for 60 years and had never had a G1 winner until Saturday. And he's lived in Hawke's Bay all his life, so it was on his home track.
And then there's the sire, Zed. He was a talented racehorse, but injury forced him to retire before he won anything of note. So he went to stud for an initial fee of $500! And no one really showed much interest. So he ended up going to a farm way down south and breeding with clydesdales! But now he has a G1-winning thoroughbred, and two other stakes winners, and so he's back on a major stud farm in the North Island for a fee 10 times higher than his initial one.
|