Flemington challenge ahead for Our Libretto
Promising O’Reilly mare Our Libretto has kept her undefeated Australian record intact after storming home late to win the Ladbrokes Multiverse Handicap (1600m) by a length at Sandown on Wednesday.
The five-year-old’s trainer Grahame Begg has a lot of time for the mare, but said she is still learning her craft. “She is still learning and she’s very untapped, she doesn’t know what it’s all about yet,” he said. “But she loves these big tracks.”
Our Libretto was victorious on the same track in her only other start in Australia last month, where she won impressively by nearly three lengths.
Begg said the lightly raced mare would now head to Flemington next month and he believes she is up to the challenge. “We have picked out a race at Flemington in about three weeks’ time,” he said. “There’s an 1800m mare 78 rated race and that was the reason why we held her back from her last start.
“We gave her a gap between runs because we knew that race was coming on towards the end of September.”
Formerly trained in New Zealand by Tony Pike, Our Libretto was off the racing scene for a year before resuming with Begg, who cited maturity issues for her raceday absence.
“I think she had a few niggly issues and feet issues,” he said. “She had immature knees and they wanted to get her over those sort of things and she came into work with me at around Christmas time.
“She has been in work a long time, it has been a long process, but we are seeing the results now and she is pretty untapped.
“She’s a lovely mare and I think she’s got a great future.”
Our Libretto was purchased out of Waikato Stud’s New Zealand Bloodstock 2015 Premier Yearling Sale draft for $400,000 by Waikato bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne.