Kiwi Group Three Winner for Mastercraftsman

A regular shuttler to New Zealand, Mastercraftsman featured on Saturday with a new stakes-winner when improving filly Choice (3f Mastercraftsman x Femme Britannia, by Encosta de Lago) saluted in the Group III Eulogy Stakes at Awapuni. Taranaki trainer Robert Patterson won’t be tempted to press ahead with Choice after she completed the first leg of a long-term plan. Patterson set the Mastercraftsman filly for this race months ago and will stick to his original plan of spelling the three-year-old in preparation for the Oaks after she took the 1600 metre feature by a length. “It’s been the plan for a long time to win this and it’s great that it’s come off,” Patterson said. “She’s going to have three weeks in the paddock now to rest up and then I’ll bring her back and get her ready for the Oaks. “I said to the owner that the two goals would be to win the Eulogy and the Oaks so it’s terrific to get the first one out of the way.” Passed in shy of her reserve at the NZB Select Yearling Sale, Choice was retained to race by her breeder Stephanie Hole and has won two of seven starts. Choice is the first winner for Encosta de Lago mare Femme Britannia, who comes from the family of stakes-winners Latin Quarter and Elected. Choice is the tenth stakes-winner for Group I winning Danehill Dancer stallion Mastercraftsman and is his third in the Southern Hemisphere.