ROBYN’S GEM EARMARKED FOR BROODMARE CAREER
Robyn’s Gem, who showed her true ability to deliver at her sixth start at Oamaru on Sunday, August 19, will try and find more wins before becoming a full time mum.
Now six, the daughter of 2008 New Zealand Cup winner Changeover has proven a bit of a handful scoring up with the field at times, but was on her best behaviour at Oamaru.
Driver Sheree Tomlinson bided her time back on the inner as the leaders kept the pace strong in the Twizel Combined Services Fillies And Mares Mobile Pace.
Angled out wide in open space at the 400m, Robyn’s Gem unwound strongly, winning by a length and a quarter over Mockingjay.
“She will go in foal and we’ll just see how she handles the rise in grade as to how long she races for,” said trainer Mark Jones, after racking up his fourth training win of the new term.
The mare was bred and is raced by Don Feast, of Charing Cross, who formerly bred the 2012 Hunter Cup winner, Choise Achiever, who he trained for a debut win before earning over $600,000 for the Tim Butt stable.
Robyn’s Gem has a bit going for her as a future broodmare, being a half-sister to minor winner Robyn’s Christian (2:00.9) and Robyn’s C C (1:56.5, Aust., 13 wins & $122,578).
She now has a 1:58.5 winning mile rate over 2000m and is from Robyn’s Finale, a Holmes Hanover half-sister to the 1994 New Zealand Oaks and Nevele R Fillies Final winner, Robyn’s Treasure (1:57.7, seven wins & $152,245), dam of five individual winners including Robyn’s Cullen (nine wins).
This is also the family of the big-winning Power Of Tara (1:50.6, US, 31 Australasian & USA wins, $846,608), Matthew Lee (16 Australasian wins & $218,850), Tiger Tara (1:49.8, 28 Australasian wins & $1.387 million), A G’s White Socks (1:53.9, seven wins & $203,713), and 1982 Ashburton Flying Stakes winner, Vita Man (nine wins); and the capable Mikey Maguire (1:56) and Tara Tutaia (1:58.3).