The Hottie made a dream return to racing at Hawera where the lightly raced mare credited her Westbury Stud-based stallion Swiss Ace with another black-type victory.
The Robbie Patterson-trained representative proved too strong for her rivals in Saturday’s G3 Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes over 1400 metres to credit her sire with his 20th stakes winner.
Swiss Ace was also on the board on Sunday when French Doll broke her maiden in breeder Gerry Harvey’s familiar colours on the all-weather track at Awapuni.
The Hottie is raced by breeders Eddie and Nicola Bourke and Allan Piercy and hadn’t been seen since she suffered a bleeding attack in the Listed Great Easter Stakes at Riccarton in the autumn.
However, Patterson’s conditioning skills were to the fore and, after settling within striking distance of the leaders away from the fence, the mare produced an irresistible finish.
“It’s a cool race for us to win being based in Taranaki,” Patterson said.
“The mare’s been hard work all her life, she’s always had a lot of issues, but she is a really good horse and always goes well fresh.”
The Hottie has now won six of her 16 starts with half of her victories coming off a break.
“We might look at that G3 mile (Thompson Handicap) in three weeks or so and she could be competitive in any Group 2 or Group 1 mile.”
Winning rider Courtney Barnes gave The Hottie a good run and she was confident of victory at the top of the straight.
“It all panned out really well, she didn’t jump that well and then improved quickly,” she said.
“She travelled sweetly and she deserved that, she’s a really nice horse.”
The Hottie is the first foal of the O’Reilly mare The Countessa, who is a member of the prolific Dennis brothers’ family.
Her pedigree page features an abundance of Group 1 winners including The Jewel, The Chosen One, La Diosa, The Phantom, The Phantom Chance, Irish Chance and He’s A Doozy.
Meanwhile, French Doll gained a well-earned maiden success over 1200 metres for trainer Mike Breslin after a pair of runner-up finishes from her four previous runs.
Apprentice Jim Chung settled the mare in second spot and they were too strong in the closing 50 metres.
French Doll is a daughter of the late Belong To Me mare Princesse De Paris, a half-sister to the G1 Australian Oaks winner Royal Descent with Golden Sword another top-flight winner on the pedigree page.
Princesse De Paris has an unraced three-year-old sister to French Doll and a juvenile colt by Redwood.