NZ HARNESS NEWS
Boom Kiwi-bred filly My Sweetchilliphilly was a late scratching at Menangle in New South Wales yesterday (Tuesday) after casting a shoe.
The winner of all five starts in emphatic fashion, the two-year-old daughter of Betterthancheddar is still on target for the rich Australasian Breeders Crown semifinals at Bendigo, Victoria, on August 19.
She was due to clash with classy Mark Purdon-Natalie Rasmussen-trained gelding Sicario ($1.06), who bolted in at Menangle (1609m, mobile) yesterday in her absence, after leading for driver Luke McCarthy.
The Somebeachsomewhere flyer has now won six from nine starts and is also heading for the Breeders Crown. He clocked 1:55.1, the last 400m in 26sec.
NSW-based co-trainers Shane and Lauren Tritton elected to play it safe with the unbeaten My Sweetchilliphilly, who is a half-sister to seven-win Kiwi pacer Max Phactor.
“It’s nothing serious,” Shane Tritton said.
“We don’t want to take any chances with her.
“We decided to wrap up her foot [on Monday] and keep her in cotton wool for a few days.”
Despite missing the outing, My Sweetchilliphilly will be in peak condition for the semis, according to Tritton.
Mid-Canterbury breeder Melissa Tapp always believed My Sweetchilliphilly would be special.
Tapp, 31, runs a 2000-cow dairy farm at Hinds with her husband Jimmy Illingworth and they also have a band of five broodmares, including Tact Philly, the dam of My Sweetchilliphilly and Max Phactor, who ran fourth in the 4YO Emerald at the Harness Jewels last season.
My Sweetchilliphilly reeled off four straight wins to open her career, including the $A50,000 Group One Gold Tiara at Bathurst by 20.9 metres.
Tapp bought her unraced dam Tact Philly (by In The Pocket) at an Auckland sale in foal to champion sire Bettor’s Delight for “way under the stud fee’’ and the mare was later mated with new Alabar Stud stallion Betterthancheddar (1:48), a champion three-year-old in the United States and the fastest ever stallion son of Bettor’s Delight.
The result was My Sweetchilliphilly, who was sold to an Australian owner after being developed by West Melton horseman Greg Payne.
“We thought she was something pretty special, but how special we didn’t know. Mark Jones [Canterbury trainer] trialled her and said if the [Australian] sale fell through he would take her,’’ said Tapp.
“We didn’t get as much as we would have liked, but the market was a bit down at that stage. It was just a matter of numbers and we had to keep moving some along. She was a real cheap buy for them and hopefully they come back again.’’
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