THOROUGHBRED

ART BEAT with the master NOEL HARRIS aboard took out the Group 3 Estaronline 115th Winter Cup at Riccarton on Saturday.

Settled one off back in the field ART BEAT had a lot of work to do on the home turn with a wall of horses in front of him, it didn't help when KHEMOSABI and I AM SAM skipped clear at the 300 meter. HARRIS switched off heels and angled out to make his run down the centre of the track. A brilliantly timed run saw him hit the front close to home and come away to win by a long neck from INNOVATION who made a storming run from well back in the field. KHEMOSABI fought all the way to the line to be 3/4 of length back in third.

ART BEAT is a 6 year old mare by CAPTAIN RIO - ARTEMESIA, she is trained by Vannesa and Wayne Hillis.

Wayne Hillis, " I think she is getting better, she did such a good job early in her career but this time in she seems to be a bit stronger." He was full of praise for Noel's ride. " We have been good mates for a long time, and I promised him a big win before he chucked in the towel. It's pretty special to have him on board and it was a perfect ride, he suits this horse so well because of his patience."

At 56, ( the same age as Mark Todd ) it's great to see him out there and still ridding as well as ever. Another Kiwi legend still in the saddle. It will be sad to see him hang up his boots. He has just released his new book and from all reports it's a great read. This was his second win in the Winter Cup after Real Vision in 2002.

Noel Harris, " That was a pretty impressive performance. She relaxed underneath me so well. We did get a pretty nice trip into it but she still had plenty of work to do when we straightened."