Lettuce diet a success

Press, 15 August 1988, Page 28

Lettuce diet a success

Riccarton rider, Gary Williams, doesn’t know when he will next eat a lettuce, but it might be some time.

Even though the humble garden vegetable played a major role in his winning two races for charges of the Michael Pitman stable at Riccarton on Saturday, Williams reckoned you could have too much of a good thing.

He had to waste to make 53kg to ride Saveur in the Pavroc Plate and went close by eating nothing but lettuce, with some mayonnaise added for taste, for most of last week.

From a walking weight of about 58kg on Tuesday, he got down to 54kg on Saturday, and brought Saveur from last to first for a dramatic victory over the hot favourite, Solaris Star. Williams has used the lettuce diet with success before. “You don’t feel hungry because you can eat as much of it as you like,” he said. All the same a substantial steak was on the Williams menu on Saturday evening.

His other win was on Dester which was .promoted after an inquiry into Abit Matey’s running about in the final stages. The Wellington visitor, first past the post, was subsequently relegated. Saveur’s win, however, was the highlight of the day for Williams and for trainer, Michael Pitman, whose stable Williams came south to ride for 12 months ago.

Saveur is raced by Sir Roger Clifford, Lesley McKenzie, Dan Feury and Peter Phelan who obtained him from Sir Roger’s cousin, by marriage, Julie Douglas. Saveur’s dam, Kind Thoughts, was bought as a show hack from David Allin, of Kaiapoi, by Mrs Douglas and never trained, though she had considerable success in the show ring and has been bred with hack stallions in the past. She is unlikely to be in future as Saveur, her first foal to race, is pointed at the John Grigg Classic and other southern three-year-old events. Plans to travel north for Guineas races have been shelved in the meantime. Saveur ran his last 800 m in 46.9 after being a clear last at the 800 m. It seemed a big lead to give the favourites but Williams judged things well even though there was just a nose in it at the finish.

Saveur is by Savant, a half-brother to the very successful American stallion, Sharpen Up. Savant has been stood at stud this last season by Brooke McKenzie whose wife shares in the ownership of the horse. Savant is to stand in the North Island this spring but may be bred with some mares before leaving. His earlier stud career was stalked by infertility but there are no problems in that direction now.

Solaris Star didn’t show the dash expected on a soft track probably because of a stone bruise he suffered late in the week