Mufhasa downed the cream of New Zealand’s top sprinters, and three Australian visitors, with a commanding G1 victory the Telegraph Handicap at Trentham on Saturday. The son of Pentire was winning the Telegraph for the second time and now has four top-flight titles to his credit.
Regular rider Sam Spratt was able to turn an outside barrier draw in to a positive by steering wide into the straight to allow Mufhasa the firmer part of the course to show his impressive turn of foot. “The draw worked in our favour,” Ardmore trainer Stephen McKee said. “And Sam has been trying to convince me to put blinkers on for the last 12 months. There aren’t going to be many more $1 million races for him so I decided not to hold anything back.”
Mufhasa (6g Pentire – Sheila Cheval by Mi Preferido) roared home to win by over a length from the Sydney sprinter First Command and South Island visitor Coup Align.
Bred by John Thompson and his father Colin, Mufhasa was purchased from Rich Hill Stud’s 2006 Select Sale draft for $50,000 by David, Simon and Natalie Archer along with Diane Wright. The 2009 New Zealand Horse of the Year has now won 13 of his 39 career starts and earnings of more than $2 million.
Mufhasa won the Telegraph, Waikato Sprint and Coupland’s Mile as a four-year-old and was placed in the George Ryder Stakes in Sydney. He still won a Group 1 race at Otaki last year but this season began badly when he was injured in the gates in the Mudgway Stakes at Hastings.
He finished sixth first-up in the Railway Stakes at Ellerslie on New Year’s Day and McKee produced the Pentire gelding in magnificent order at Trentham.
Pentire will be represented by 26 youngsters in the Premier session at the upcoming NZ National Yearling Sale at Karaka with half a dozen of the best in the Rich Hill draft.
Rich Hill sold a Perfectly Ready half-brother to Mufhasa for $290,000 at the 2010 Karaka Premier yearling sale. Mufhasa’s dam Sheila Cheval produced a filly by Zabeel in 2009 but missed when bred back to the Cambridge Stud’s champion sire.