NZ HARNESS NEWS
One of New Zealand’s best mares has been sold and will do her future racing in North America.
Trainer Brad Mowbray confirmed on Tuesday that he and his partners in Delishka, Group 1-placed in Sydney’s Ladyship Mile in February, have agreed to sell her to American buyers.
“We weren’t intending on selling and this sort of came out of the blue,” he said.
“The offer was so good it had to be seriously looked at and we are quite happy with the deal.”
The four-year-old daughter of Bettor’s Delight already has a 1.51.1 career mark after her Australian sojourn over the summer and the Mowbrays had plans to breed from her.
“But at the end of the day, it comes down to things like a mortgage.
“You’ve got to keep these things ticking over.”
Her New Zealand career isn’t quite over yet, however, with Mowbray expecting to line her up in the Harness Jewels at Cambridge on June 2 as a finale to her time here.
“Hopefully we can work out a deal to race her in the Jewels – that is part of what we are working through now with the buyers.”
Delishka has won 10 of her 29 career starts for almost $150,000 in stakes, her best win coming in the Gr.3 A$40,000 Sibelia Stakes at Menangle.
While good horses don’t come along every day, Mowbray is hopeful he can replace her with one of a number of promising yearlings in the barn.
And, of course, he has good pacer Tiger Thompson to go on with – his owners regularly refusing good offers from overseas.
“They drew a line in the sand pretty early on when they turned down some tempting offers for him.”
- NZ Harness News
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