When it comes to bloodstock matters, it’s not often that Waikato Stud’s Celia Crawshaw ignores the advice of her father Garry or younger brother Mark Chittick.

But she did just that in May last year.

Waikato Stud catalogued Prickle (NZ) for the NZB National Sale but Celia changed her mind beforehand and withdrew the mare.   “I would be feeling pretty sick right now if I hadn’t,” she recalled this week.

Prickle is the dam of Brambles (NZ) and the Savabeel stayer is the pre-post favourite for the G1 Queensland Derby on June 9 after lead-up victories in the G3 Grand Prix and G3 Rough Habit Plate.

“It’s really exciting,” Celia continued.  “He is the first Group winner I have bred and it’s great to have one of my own.  Mum, Dad and Mark have given me a good start but I keep reminding them it was my decision to keep Prickle.”

Prickle is a daughter of Pins and descends from one of the Chittick family’s foundation mares Lady Aloof (Sir Godfrey).  She won three races and was placed in the G3 Wakefield Challenge and LR Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie.

Prickle has produced four foals to Savabeel and is back in foal to him.  Her first Savabeel was Lopov and he has won five races in Australia.  The second was Brambles and he was a $100,000 purchase for Peter Moody at the 2010 NZB Karaka Sale.

Should Brambles win the Queensland Derby, it will be the second Derby this season for Savabeel following Sangster’s win in the Victorian equivalent in the spring.  Waikato based Savabeel has now sired 17 stakes winners and over 140 individual winners.

Brambles