When harness racing trainer Gavin Smith went to the 2014 New Zealand Premier Yearling sale at Christchurch, he had marked off all the lots he wanted to inspect based on their pedigree.
While there he saw Lot 68, a filly named Scarlett Banner walk through the parade ring and although she wasn't marked in his catalogue, she really took his eye.
" She was a great walker and had a real presence about her."
" I went around and inspected her and couldn't fault her."
" There was bits of her pedigree I didn't like but the individual herself was superb."
" When she came into the sales ring I got a bit caught up in the moment and was pretty determined to buy her and went to $28,000 to secure her," Gavin told Harnesslink yesterday.
Gavin then went about syndicating the Bettors Delight filly amongst his owners but only managed to sell 60% to them, leaving him with 40%.
" I am pretty happy these days to have kept 40% the way she is going," Gavin said.
Impressing Gavin from the time he started to break her in, Scarlett Banner was going good enough to line up in the two year old trials last season, winning one at Addington and being placed behind Northern Velocity in another.
" I lined her up in a Sires Stakes heat at Timaru and she ran fifth but I was pretty disappointed on the day."
"I got a blood done and it was out everywhere"
" I thought then that if she could run fifth when so out of sorts, that she would be really competitive when 100% right."
" I thought then that the best thing for Scarlett Banner was to give her a decent break and let her get over her blood issues before racing her again,"
Brought up slowly through the winter, Scarlett Banner had a couple of workouts/trials to ready her for her raceday resumption.
That happened last Friday night at Addington Raceway where she came from four back on the inner to run a smart second in her return to the track.
Lining up last night in one of the $23,500 Alabar Super Series Finals, Scarlett Banner looked a bit out of her depth against the race hardened Franco Cristiano, Zenmach and company but she surprised everybody when getting up right on the line to win the race.
" She got a lovely run and I went at the right time."
" I think the others got a bit tired late and came back to here rather than she ran past them"
" Still a hell of an effort to beat that field at just her second start for the season and third lifetime."
" There is a huge amount of improvement in her yet and I think she will measure up to the better ones later in the season," Gavin said.
One thing Gavin is sure of is that Scarlett Banner is a smart trotter in the making when she has reached her mark pacing.
" If you try to canter her, she just trots and you can't break her up."
" She has trotted time at home as well and she seems to be happier doing it."
" I think whatever she does as a pacer, she will equal or better as a trotter," Gavin said.
The Gavin Smith barn is going great guns at the moment and Scarlett Banner may just be that flagbearer that the stable has been looking for.
Harnesslink Media