Cambridge trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray have a staying filly of the future on their hands with Samina Bibi, a daughter of in-vogue stallion Reliable Man, an impressive debut winner at Te Rapa. Ridden by apprentice Wiremu Pinn, Samina Bibi sat three-deep throughout but bounded away from her rivals in the BCD Group 3YO (1400m) to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
“It was a big win,” Ritchie said. “To sit three-wide without cover and win like that was impressive. “She is a beautiful staying type and clearly looks an Oaks type.” Ritchie knows what it takes to win an Oaks, having saddled the winner of the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) on three occasions with Keep The Peace (2010), Artisitc (2012) and Jennifer Eccles (2020).
The Cambridge trainer selected the filly on behalf of loyal owners Gary and Lyne Witters for $170,000 at last year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale. “I’m delighted for Gary and Lyne. They have been terrific breeders with the likes of Pravda, Cronus and Samantha Miss, but this is a filly they bought,” he said. “We can’t have quality horses like this, without good owners.”
The filly is named after a 12-year-old girl who was found alive after being buried for 18 hours when an avalanche in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir engulfed the family house in January of this year. Samina Bibi is out of the winning Redoute’s Choice mare Zuzela.
Westbury Stud sold a full-sister to the filly at last week’s Ready To Run Sale for $270,000 to the bid of Gary Harding. “She was a nice filly too,” Ritchie said. “I had a budget but didn’t get a bid in.”