Perth trainer Alan Mathews will head to Melbourne for a spring campaign with Pounamu while his promising filly Vintage Stock stays closer to home for the local classics.

Pounamu won the G1 Kingston Town Classic last December and, after a weight-for-age hit-out at Belmont on September 1, he will travel east for the G1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on September 15.

“I’ve been happy with his work and he will be stabled with Jason Warren down at Mornington,” Mathews said this week. “And I joked to the owners we should take Vintage Stock across, too.”

The NZ-bred filly won by four lengths on debut in the Western Racepix Maiden (1200m) at Belmont on Wednesday. “I thought she could go nice but didn’t expect that much,” Mathews told The West Australian. “She had the advantage of a gallop with Pounamu last weekend.”

Vintage Stock (3f Tavistock – Phillipa Glass by Volksraad) was a $20,000 buy for John Chalmers Bloodstock (FBAA) at the 2017 NZ Select yearling sale from Rich Hill Stud. Her dam won up to 2100m in Auckland and is a full-sister to Champion NZ 2YO Filly One Under.

There’s stamina in spades throughout the pedigree. The Perth filly’s older half-brother I’ll’ava’alf (Lucky Unicorn) won a Warrnambool steeple over 3450m on Thursday.

Vintage Stock races for a syndicate managed by Lou Erceg. “She’s a Kiwi filly with a fair upside,” Mathews predicted. “John bought her at Karaka and we’ve liked her from Day 1.”

Erceg also bred and raced the Mathews-trained Who Dat Singa (Iffraaj) who was sold to Hong Kong after finishing second to Arcadia Dream in the G2 WA Derby in April 2016. He was from a NZ mare that Chalmers purchased for $5,500 from Cambridge Stud.

Federation of Bloodstock Agents Australia (FBAA) was formed in 1988 to maintain, improve and develop the standards, status and services of bloodstock agents throughout Australia. Its members operate with the utmost integrity and professionalism and are bound by the strict Industry Code of Conduct.

The list of FBAA members can be viewed at: www.bloodstockagents.com.au

VINTAGE STOCK
Pictured at Rich Hill Stud prior to the 2017 Karaka Select yearling sale