It was lovely to have Patricia Anne break through for her first Australian win at Cranbourne on Sunday, and what tough style she did it in – gamely chasing down the leader and putting her nose out right on the line.
Not having a great deal of room approaching the turn, the consistent five-year-old was patiently steered by Jarrod Fry who had her through a gap straightening.
“It was just a matter of getting her to the outside and once there I was quietly confident,” he said.
Though, judging by how well Patricia Anne was travelling, he was expecting a bigger win – “I thought she was going to put it away quite easily but she just wanted to have a look and run away from the second horse.”
But victory is what matters and Patricia Anne was game at her fifth outing (her third this time in) since coming over from New Zealand earlier in the year.
“She has done a good job,” Mitchell said, noting that the bay was placed a bit out of her comfort zone in relation to her usual racing style.
“She is more of a free rolling horse so being put in a pocket and having to pick up and sprint did not really suit, she is not that way inclined.”
Bred by The Oaks Stud in New Zealand, Patricia Anne is a daughter of Danehill’s Goodwood Handicap winner Keeper and the city placed two times winning Snippets mare Nibbler.
Also dam of the stakes placed Devour, Nibbler is a half-sister to the Toowoomba Cup winner Kugelhopf from the family of stakes winners Laura’s Express, Laura’s Charm, Corton Charlemagne and Paco.
Sadly the race was marred by a nasty fall with the stable’s thoughts with the injured riders Brad Rawiller and Brian Higgins.
