Hello Youmzain 3YO breaks through

Ashoka repaid the faithful when he posted an overdue and deserved victory at New Plymouth.

The Tony Pike-trained son of our shuttle stallion Hello Youmzain had placed in all previous outings, including a brace of runner-up finishes, before carrying favourite backers to victory over 1200 metres.

Rider Sam Collett had him rolling along outside the leader before hitting the front early in the run home and the three-year-old dug deep to see it through.

Ashoka was bred by Pike with parents Wayne and Vicki and was sold to Hong Kong client Wilson Wong after impressing at the trials as a two-year-old.

He is out of the O’Reilly mare Lismore Diamond who also has a juvenile colt by Almanzor and a yearling filly by our resident son of Wootton Bassett.

Meanwhile, another son of Hello Youmzain in the Pike stable is still in contention for a trip south for the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas.

Happy Youmzain finished sixth from an awkward barrier in a three-year-old event at Ellerslie on Melbourne Cup Day over 1400 metres.

“It was a bit unfortunate from the draw, he was dragged to the outside and got a bit lost and unbalanced, but the last 200 metres of his race was really good,” Pike said.

“We’ll gallop him next Tuesday morning, possibly with the application of blinkers, and if we’re happy then he’s a genuine chance to go down.”

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