The two-year-old Snitzel filly Hip Hip Hurrah kept her record at a perfect two for two with a fighting win in a thrilling Listed Kia Ora Woodlands Stakes (1100m) at Scone on Saturday.
Ridden by Brett Prebble for Michael Freedman, Hip Hip Hurrah was not the best to begin, but Prebble used the inside barrier to track up behind the leader.
Tacking the split between the leader Frenemy and favourite Dipsy Doodle, Hip Hip Hurrah looked set for a comfortable win before Dipsy Doodle began to rally, and Saltaire and Miracle Of Love were motoring home.
Hip Hip Hurrah kept enough in the tank to nose out Dipsy Doodle (Lonhro) with a half-neck back to the Dundeel x Miss Finland debutant Miracle Of Love in third and Saltaire (Star Turn) a close-up fourth.
“She jumped OK but for the first five strides did not muster speed on the bridle,” Prebble said.
“I gave her a little rub, and she began revving a bit. I overdid it by taking a nice position from a good draw.
“She is professional, and I might have gotten there too soon. The one to beat was outside me, so we had a ding-dong go.
“She toughed it out, but the last twenty yards was enough for her.
“She is getting better and will be a nice filly going forward.”
A winner on debut at Muswellbrook on April 28, the daughter of Snitzel is another success story for her owner/breeder Sir Owen Glenn. She is the first and only foal for Sir Owen’s Group II ATC Percy Sykes Stakes and Group II Tatt’s NSW Furious Stakes winner Pure Elation. The daughter of I Am Invincible was a $320,000 purchase for Paul Moroney Bloodstock from the Swettenham Stud draft at the 2017 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
The winner of three of six starts with earnings of $667,220; Pure Elation died without having another foal.
Hip Hip Hurrah is the fourth 2yo stakes-winner of the season for Snitzel, who remains on track to claim the juvenile sires title he last claimed in 2019-2020