$8,000 weanling sale bargain secures huge early return

In what bodes as another wonderful and timely advertisement for the NZB Standardbred Weanling Sale at Karaka in a week’s time, another of its graduates has grabbed a New Zealand harness racing feature in the form of Ya Rite Darl (What The Hill).

The Diamond Racing trained and owned juvenile continued her ascent in the two-year-old trotting ranks tonight (May 17) at Addington Raceway taking out the $46,500 SENZ New Zealand 2YO Trotting Stakes at Group Three level.

The daughter of What The Hill was an $8,000 purchase back in 2022 and in just three career starts to date has amassed more than five times that figure with the promise of plenty more to come.

John Dunn did well to keep the $1.80 favourite in her gait through the early part of the running, and was content to sit back and watch the lead pair of Carla Pixie (Carlton) and Massive Merc (Muscle Mass) try to establish themselves in front.

While Blair Orange was in no mood to relinquish the top to Allan Clark, he was only more than happy to secure the trail behind the odds on favourite who came around them for a look and assumed control with a lap left to run. From there it was an easy watch for favourite backers with Ya Rite Darl easily keeping her rivals at bay to go to the line the victor by one and a quarter lengths, leading home a fillies trifecta with Carla Pixie securing another placing and Queen Kizen (What The Hill) a further five lengths adrift in third.

YA RITE DARL REPLAY

“She is pretty good and had one hiccup first up which was probably my fault. She handled herself pretty well in between horses tonight and it’s a great race to win,” said the winning reinsman, John Dunn.

“She will probably go to the paddock now. She has come a long way in a short time and there is nothing really left until later in the year when the feature races kick off again. It’s great to win a race like tonight after getting these young trotters up and going,” he said.

Ya Rite Darl is the only live foal from her Dream Vacation dam, Gogirl Bromac who is a grand daughter of the imported American open class trotting mare, Lilly The Pink (Jazz Cosmos).

While the branch of the family has been a bit thin in the respect of tonight’s winner, it just goes to show the good blood can reappear at short notice.

Lily The Pink was in the pedigree of tonight’s quinella as her Great Grandson, Carlton, produced the runner up Carla’s Pixie to establish himself as a sire of some promise with a Group Three placing with a juvenile from his debut crop.

For complete Addington results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink