Well-related mare charting her own path

It may have been too much to expect lightning to strike twice for Josh Shaw but Chart The Stars has showed she has inherited a good measure of the family ability.

The Levin trainer reached Group One heights with the U S Navy Flag mare’s half-sister Faraglioni and while his current charge has a long way to go to match those deeds, she has fashioned a tidy record.

Chart The Stars has posted three wins from 10 appearances and looks to have a good chance of further success in the Power Farming Manawatu Polytrack Championship (1400m) at Awapuni on Thursday.

“They’re chalk and cheese, Faraglioni was a really strong mare with a great appetite for both work and food,” Shaw said.

“This one is totally opposite, a good gust of wind would blow her over. She’s quite an athletic type though and whether in another six or 12 months she starts looking like her half-sister is another story.

“I still think she’s a wee way away from being the finished article.”

Faraglioni was a five-time winner and finished runner-up at Group One level in the Tarzino Trophy (1400m) and Captain Cook Stakes (1600m).

She was raced on lease by a syndicate, including Shaw, from Curraghmore principal Gordon Cunningham and Arkle Bloodstock, with the El Roca mare now in foal to Justify’s four-time top-flight winner City of Troy.

“We lease this one (Chart The Stars) from Gordon as well and it’s a similar syndicate to Faraglioni, not all the same members with a few new owners to the stable involved so that’s great,” Shaw said.

Two of Chart The Stars’ victories have been delivered on the Awapuni all-weather surface, including a most recent strike at the end of last month.

“It looks a nice race for her on Thursday, ideally I would have liked a couple more weeks between runs but when you’re racing for $75,000 on your back doorstep you have to have a throw at the stumps,” Shaw said.

“She has done well so I’m happy and I’m pretty confident with her. She has a good record on the track, she handles it as well as anything else.

“The key to her is space between runs and after this one she’ll go to the paddock for 10 days and we’ll reassess things and start again.”

Shaw will also have three runners at Woodville on Sunday and tipped Sweet Envy as his best chance in the Happy 30th Jade Scott Maiden (1400m).

It would be a long overdue breakthrough for the mare who has been a six-time runner-up from 39 attempts, and a last-start fourth at Waverley.

“Hopefully, she can become a bride instead of a bridesmaid. Her work on Tuesday was as good as she’s ever put in,” Shaw said.