Taimate Diva picked up the seventh win of her career in the Branded Kiwi & See You Next Friday Rating 75 (2200m) at Phar Lap Raceway in Timaru on Wednesday.
The daughter of Telperion got away well from barrier seven with Wiremu Pinn onboard, settled in the one-one position, before making a sustained run from the 600m mark eventually wearing down leader Peecee Pussycat to win by a neck, with the pair two-and-three-quarter lengths clear of their nearest rivals.
Her trainer Andrew Carston said he was confident going into the race with a drop in class and the engagement of a senior jockey Pinn key factors.
“It was a drop back in grade from what she had been racing in the last few races,” he said.
“We opted to go for a senior jockey this week, because she hasn’t had a lot of luck her last two or three starts. So, we were pretty confident going into today.”
Carston said he would wait to see how the six-year-old mare came through the run before confirming her next steps.
“She’s had a long preparation and I’m just not sure how much further we’ll go into the spring, but we’ll leave that up to her, I will see how she recovers from this before I make any plans.
“She’s had a super prep, that’s her third win for the preparation. She’s an above average mare, that’s seven wins now. She’s done a bloody good job.
“Now she’s won seven she’s actually a genuine open class horse, so we will just need to pick and choose our path from here.”
Taimate Diva was bred by Marlborough’s David and Paul Hickman, and she is raced under the Taimate Equine banner they share with their brother John Hickman.
“They are good supporters of mine they’ve got a few in the stable now, they’re great to deal with and it’s good to see them get success because they’re putting plenty in,” Carston said.
Carston was now looking ahead to Saturday’s meeting on his home course of Riccarton Park where he has seven runners engaged including stable star and last start winner Jon Ol Rocco.
“He’s done everything right since last start and he’s going the right way, so I expect another good run from him.
“There’s also a couple of maidens in the first race that I don’t mind, Taimate Staar will be a horse to follow through the spring and Lone Spirit is going well.”
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