Written by Trent Masenhelder
Cover image courtesy of Trish Dunell
Graeme and Debbie Rogerson, along with the other owners of Sharp ‘N’ Smart (NZ) - Gerry Harvey, Merv and Meg Butterworth, Todd Bawden, Craig Leishman and Martin Waddy - hope the New Zealand Horse of the Year award isn’t the only major accomplishment they are celebrating this spring.
The 4-year-old gelded son of Redwood (GB) holds nominations for Melbourne’s trio of elite Group 1s - the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate and G1 Melbourne Cup.
“He’s a seriously good horse, right up there with the best stayers I’ve had. The only times he got beaten was when he was on wet tracks, but he still ran good races,” co-trainer Graeme Rogerson told The Thoroughbred Report.
“He’s (Sharp ‘N’ Smart) a seriously good horse, right up there with the best stayers I’ve had.” - Graeme Rogerson
“He’s running on September 30 in the (G1) Arrowfield Stud Plate (1600 metres) and then I’ll decide whether I come to Australia that week or wait and I’ll use the Cox Plate as his lead-in race to the Melbourne Cup.
“I’m really happy with the horse and the aim is the Melbourne Cup.
“He is a very good horse and I’m looking forward to heading back to Australia with him.”
Sharp ‘N’ Smart won the Horse of the Year title in one of the tightest votes in recent memory, earning 24 votes to touch off Te Akau’s star sprinting mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) by just two votes.
Debbie and Graeme Rogerson | Image courtesy of Sportpix
The gelding’s brilliant 3-year-old season encompassed eight starts for five wins (three Group 1s), two seconds, a fourth and more than NZ$3 million in prizemoney. Only Dundeel (NZ) and Bonecrusher (NZ) (Pag Asa) (1986) won more Group 1s, four in all, at three.
Sharp ‘N’ Smart was also named Champion 3-Year-Old of the Year, beating out an exceptional crop that featured three other trans-Tasman Group 1 winners – Prowess (NZ) (Proisir), Pennyweka (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) and Legarto (NZ) (Proisir).
Sharp ‘N’ Smart chalked up elite-level triumphs in the G1 Spring Champion S., G1 Thorndon Mile and G1 Herbie Dyke S.
“It’s great for the horse and his connections. It’s a real team effort,” Rogerson added.
“It’s great for the horse and his (Sharp ‘N’ Smart’s) connections. It’s a real team effort.” - Graeme Rogerson
“Imperatriz is a very good mare, especially left-handed, and her win at Moonee Valley on Saturday was really impressive.”
From the Swiss Ace mare Queen Margaret (NZ), Sharp ‘N’ Smart was bred by Gerry Harvey and offered in the Westbury Stud draft in Book 2 of the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale. Rogerson Bloodstock secured him for NZ$55,000, before he returned to Karaka later that year for the Ready to Run Sale, where he was passed in with a NZ$90,000 reserve.
Sharp ‘N’ Smart becomes the ninth consecutive Karaka graduate to be crowned New Zealand’s Horse of the Year and he joins past winners including Mongolian Khan, Bonneval (NZ) (Makfi {GB}), Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands) and Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel).
Sharp 'N' Smart (NZ) as a yearling | Image courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock
Westbury Stud General Manager Russell Warwick said Sharp ‘N’ Smart was always quite an imposing horse.
“He was out of a mare that really didn’t show any ability. He was the first foal and had a bit of presence about him,” he said.
“He always had a lot of confidence in himself and portrayed that in everything you did with him – he was cheeky and had that little bit of attitude about him.
“He (Sharp ‘N’ Smart) always had a lot of confidence in himself and portrayed that in everything you did with him – he was cheeky and had that little bit of attitude about him.” - Russell Warwick
“We had a NZ$55,000 reserve on him at Karaka and Graeme had the last bid at NZ$55,000, otherwise he would have been coming home.
“He asked us if we wanted to stay in, which we did, and from that point he said, ‘We would ready-to-run him and if we make a good profit on him, we will sell him, if not, we will hang onto him’.”
Sadly, Queen Margaret died following a paddock accident, but the Westbury team have retained her only other foal, a 3-year-old unnamed Redwood filly.
