Thursday, 9th January 2025
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Following a stellar season from horses carrying the iconic WS brand, Waikato Stud has been announced as the Sir Patrick and Justine Lady Hogan Breeder of the Year for the 2020-21 season for the seventh time. "Obviously we are very proud to get the award again and we are honoured and very pleased," Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick said. "The number of stakes winners across all the stallions and from different broodmares is also very satisfying. When this operation is your whole life and you get results like that it does tell you that the mix must be working." Chittick pointed out, "It is one operation, whether the horses are bred by G.J Chittick Investments or Waikato Stud and partners, they may be different names but it's all one operation." According to NZTBA, Probabeel (Savabeel) provided Waikato Stud with their first Gr1 winner of the 2020-21 season when she won the Gr1 Epsom Handicap in Sydney before going on to further Group 1 glory and the Karaka Million 3YO Classic. Runner-up in that race, Amarelinha (Savabeel), came into her own in the Autumn and wasn't to be denied her own Gr1 victory, taking out the Gr1 New Zealand Oaks, becoming Savabeel's twenty-second Group winner, with Waikato graduate Mo'unga adding to that a week later in the Gr1 Rosehill Guineas.
