Almanzor mare goes distance again

Mehzebeen has added to her collection of staying titles in fine style at Trentham.

The daughter of Almanzor produced a stirring display to land the Listed Hawke’s Bay Cup following her spring successes in the Listed Metropolitan Trophy and G3 New Zealand Cup.

Also runner-up in the G1 New Zealand Oaks, Mehzebeen was out of luck during a two-start Melbourne campaign before she returned home to finish a first-up third in last month’s New Zealand St Leger.

The Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson-trained mare showed the benefit of that outing with a stout display in the Cup under Lily Sutherland.

They led early before settling in the trail and the five-year-old finished relentlessly along the fence for the sixth victory of her career.

“Sam and I spoke, he said Plan A was to push forward and then get a breather if Final Return went around and took over,” Te Akau Racing Manager Reece Trumper said.

“Luckily, when she (Sutherland) was going to come to the outside the inside run came and it was a great ride by Lily. While she is the leading apprentice in the country, she is also one of the best jockeys as well.”

Bred by Pencarrow Stud, Mehzebeen was a $50,000 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale graduate and is a daughter of the Zabeel mare Salkantay.

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