Former North Island mare Out Of The Park broke a track record that had stood for seven years at Wingatui over the weekend.
The Woodlands 5yr-old became the fastest winner over 2000m in more than 120 years of racing at the Mosgiel track when scoring in rating 82 company.
Out Of The Park won in the time of 2min 14.54sec, taking 0.36sec off the previous record set in 2013 by former Invercargill galloper Elite Street.
The new mark went unnoticed at Saturday’s feature race meeting and was announced by the Otago Racing Club on Monday.
The accomplishment came as a pleasant surprise for trainer Robert Dennis.
“It was a bit of a surprise. No-one really picked up on it on the day but it is pretty exciting.
“She got a soft trip, but the stopwatch doesn’t lie.”
Rider Brett Murray gave Out Of The Park an economical run three back on the rail before working the mare into the clear on the home turn.
She let down powerfully in the straight to beat a strong field while effectively competing out of her grade.
Saturday’s win was Out Of The Park’s third win in six starts since transferring to Dennis’s stable after being bought by White Robe Lodge horseman Jack Stewart and Waikato Stud business manager Mike Rennie.
The owners have significantly lifted the Ocean Park mare’s value as a broodmare since placing her with Dennis.
They will look to continue that by scoring a listed win in next month’s Riverton Cup.
“The Riverton Cup has been her aim since she won at Gore over 2000m three starts ago. And we haven’t really looked beyond that yet,” Dennis said.
Out Of The Park’s Riverton Cup preparation has started well as she pulled through her record-breaking run in good style.
“She has probably come through this race better than any of her other runs down here,” Dennis said.
As Out Of The Park effectively competed two grades higher than normal on Saturday, she will drop in class for her final lead-up run before the Riverton feature.
“She is likely to have a run over 2000m in a rating 72 race at Riccarton later this month,” Dennis said.
“It will be three weeks since Wingatui and three weeks out from the Riverton Cup.”
