Brave Habana defies topweight

A gallant Habana left no excuses for his rivals in the G2 Rich Hill Mile at Pukekohe when he gave weight and a beating to his opposition in the New Year’s Day handicap feature.Our oh so dependable son of Zoustar posted a career high performance when he produced a relentless finish in the straight under 58kg for his eighth victory from 16 appearances.“I got a lot of satisfaction out of that one, he’s such a neat horse with a few quirks and he makes you work, but he’s genuine on the racetrack,” trainer Lance Noble said.“To win like that with topweight was huge, I really want to thank all the staff at home because he hasn’t got the best feet and our farrier Blair does a fantastic job as well.”Habana settled fifth last off the fence before he improved near the turn and held a sustained finish in the run home to give jockey Warren Kennedy a remarkable seventh winner on the card.His haul included the G1 Railway aboard Waitak for Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, the G2 Eclipse Stakes with Te Akau’s Bellatrix Star, the G2 Sir Tristram Classic on Habana’s stablemate About Time as well as a runner-up finish also for us aboard Frostfair.“It’s been absolutely fantastic and Cambridge Stud are huge supporters and I can’t thank them and Lance and all the team enough,” Kennedy said.“Habana was giving a lot of weight away, but he was the class horse and class prevailed.”The five-year-old was a private purchase out of the trials and is a son of the Mossman mare Jeter, who won on four occasions and finished fourth in the G1 Schweppes Oaks.