Group Race double for Father Patrick

It was a stakes race double for Father Patrick at Alexandra Park on Saturday night with Meant To Be taking out the Group 1 NZ Sires Stakes 3YO Trotters Championship and Duchess Maria the Group 3 Young Guns 2YO Trot Final.

The Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan trained Meant To Be maintained his dominance of New Zealand’s 3-year-old trotting ranks when untroubled to win the $110,000 age-group square-gaiters feature.

Starting from the second row, Meant To Be worked to the lead a lap out, and despite being taken on and headed by Youneverknow in the backstraight, simply shrugged off the challenge and trotted untouched to the line to score by two and a quarter lengths.

It was Meant To Be’s eighth win in a row and his fourth at Group 1 level, with the big 3-year-old now the winner of nine of his 12 starts for earnings of $406,342.

Earlier on the card the Nathan Williamson trained Duchess Maria proved too good for her rivals in the $45,000 race for juvenile trotters.

Handling the right-handed track for the first time with ease, Duchess Maria led off the gate before handing up to the race favourite Redpark Warrior, and bided her time until peeling off his back at the top of the home straight, quickly putting three lengths on the Creatine gelding, with another 12 and a quarter lengths back to the third placed horse.

The exciting filly is unbeaten in two race-day starts now, having won the Group 3 Southern Classic Trot at the end of last month on debut, and has accrued $55,000 in stakes earnings.

Both Meant To Be and Duchess Maria are out of Muscle Hill mares, the former Luby Lou and the later Maria Tsarina.

Father Patrick is enjoying another terrific season to date in New Zealand and is currently leading the 2YO, 3YO and 4YO Trotting Sires Premierships.