Pukekohe will be the next port of call for Arietta after her clever win in the Canterbury Breeders' Stakes at Riccarton yesterday.
The John and Karen Parsons-trained mare prevailed after a lovely ride by Chris Johnson to get the 5yr-old daughter of Falkirk home ahead of The Diamond One, who was game in defeat.
Karen Parsons, who bred Arietta out of Grand Lodge mare Prussian Doll, had just arrived on course with Final Touch when the listed 1400m for fillies and mares was run. She listened to the race on the car radio and praised the ride by jockey Chris Johnson - from what she heard on the radio, at least.
Arietta has carved out an enviable record, winning four from 18, but her career has not all been plain sailing for Parsons to manage.
''She's had a lot of little bits and pieces go wrong and she doesn't go in the wet,'' Parsons said.
Arietta is now likely to be the Parsons' sole representative in the Auckland Breeders Thoroughbred stakes (1400m) at Pukekohe on November 23, provided the track is firm.
The hard luck story in the race belongs to Wingatui mare The Diamond One, who never saw the rail throughout the 1400m. Jockey Mark Du Plessis went forward from the mare's wide gate but could not get the lead and had to ease back.
''He felt he probably should have waited for three or four strides before he went [for the lead] but he felt [The Diamond One] was really going that well,'' her trainer, Steven Anderton, said.
''Covering that extra ground really just cost her in the last bit.''
It was a day of seconds for Anderton and his owners, the Dennis brothers, as The Solitaire flashed late for second in the group 2 Coupland's Mile, but Anderton was pleased with The Diamond One's performance.
''I was thrilled with that - really, the draw beat us.''
