Skew Wiff breaks maiden ranks at Tauranga

[Wandering Eyes]

Skew Wiff (NZ) (Savabeel) rewarded her backers at Tauranga on Wednesday when comfortably taking out the Ultimate Mazda Maiden 3YO (1200m) by 2-1/2 lengths.

The Savabeel filly won both of her trials in the lead-up to her first-up run where she was backed into $2.10 favouritism and won accordingly in the hands of New Zealand Champion Jockey Opie Bosson.

“She’s a lovely Waikato Stud filly and it was a good win,” trainer Mark Walker said.

“We’ve been patient with her, the barrier manners have improved and she’s got a really bright future that seems capable of gaining black type.”

Skew Wiff is the first foal from impressive stakes-winning sprinter Starvoia and while she was set to go through the sales ring, following x-rays the decision was made for Waikato Stud to retain her as a racing prospect.

“She had a couple of X-ray issues, although nothing that was going to hold her back, so we withdrew her from the yearling sales and she was certainly one that David (Ellis) had shown interest in early on while she was still in the yearling prep,” Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick said.

“So it made sense that she went to Te Akau, but she’s been a handful, doing silly things out of the gates and not settling, and credit to Mark (Walker) and Opie (Bosson) and their expertise in ironing out the issues.

“Opie said after her last trial win that we just need to get on with her now and that shows his experience in situations like this. And, because of that, we saw a better filly today.

“There were a few people that questioned me as to whether we carried on with her, but we’ve always known she had ability and now she’s heading in the right direction.

“We bought the mare Starvoia after she finished racing, but I’d always known the family as we had the fourth dam, Meant For Me, here on the farm for Scotty Williams.

“You give them a bit of time and the old families come back.”

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