Collett Says Nonu's Mental Strength Key To Breeders' Prospects
It’s half the battle won for a two-year-old if they can mentally cope with the race day experience and jockey Jason Collett is confident that’s something Nonu (NZ) (Anamoe) will do at Randwick on Saturday.
The son of champion Anamoe was one of the stars of the official trials last week and Collett said how he conducted himself is a good sign going into the Group 3 $150,000 Arrowfield Breeders’ Plate (1000m).
“You want them to handle the occasion well, that’s a good starting point and he did that,’’ Collett said.
“It’s everything from the journey there to how they are in the birdcage, you obviously want them to trial good as well.
“He’s up in behind so he still has more growing to do, so for him to be here and producing it says there’s raw ability there.”
Nonu, ran the second fastest time of the 850m heats for the colts and geldings in scoring a 3-1/2 length win in his trial.
Collett is pleased to have drawn a comfortable barrier with the Bjorn Baker-trained colt which he says gives him options to see how the early part of the race plays out.
“He’s very raw, unassuming, a lovely type of horse and I just like that he was in front, not knowing what he was doing, and his ears were pricked,’’ he said.
“I gave him a click up at the 150m and he responded but the part I like is there was still more to come.”
Bred by Wentwood Grange, Nonu was offered through their draft at the 2026 NZB Yearling Sales, where he was purchased by Bjorn Baker Racing for $600,000. The colt is the first foal of stakes winning Pride Of Dubai mare Easifarc. - NZ Racing Desk
Livamol locked in for Tuxedo ahead of Australian hit-and-run mission
Shaune Ritchie could have an exciting few weeks ahead of him on both sides of the Tasman.
The Cambridge trainer has confirmed last weekend’s Gr.1 Howden Insurance Mile (1600m) runner-up Tuxedo (NZ) (Tivaci) will press on to next week’s Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings before heading to Australia to chase the A$2 million on offer in the Gr.3 Five Diamonds (1800m) at Rosehill on November 7.
Tuxedo was involved in a thrilling three-way finish at Hastings last weekend, and while disappointed to come off second-best to Waitak (NZ) (Proisir), Ritchie was proud of his gelding’s effort and is looking forward to trying to turn the tables next weekend.
“He has come through fantastic, his coat has fully come out with that run, that trip has brought him right on,” Ritchie said.
“He probably didn’t get the rub of the green in the race, but having said that, he went past Waitak and Waitak was the warrior that he is and got back and beat him on the line.
“It is hard to say that we had poor luck, but it is going to be a hell of a race again next time. She’s A Dealer (Ace High) is right there with them as well, so it is good that we have got three good horses to be able to hang the New Zealand racing hat on at weight-for-age level.”
Ritchie believes the Five Diamonds is the perfect race to round out Tuxedo’s spring campaign.
“If her performs up to scratch in the Livamol, I think it is four weeks through to the Five Diamonds, which is over 1800m at Rosehill,” he said. “I think it is the perfect trip for him and it is a A$2 million race. It is a Group Three, but that category is pretty much irrelevant to us, money is more attractive than the Group status for a horse like him.
“We have been sparingly racing him each campaign, he has only had four or five starts each spring and autumn. This (Five Diamonds) will be his fourth run and we will get him back to New Zealand and do a similar thing in the autumn with him.”
Meanwhile, Ritchie’s attention is currently on racing this weekend where his Group One performer Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma) will bid to add to her stakes haul in the Gr.3 Grangewilliam Stud Taranaki Breeders’ Stakes (1400m) at Hawera on Saturday.
The daughter of Darci Brahma placed first-up over 1300m at Ellerslie last month, and Ritchie said she derived plenty of benefit from that outing.
“She has had a month between runs and just peaked on her run last time,” he said. “I felt she went through to win. Sam McNab rode her and got up the inside there and just flatlined that last few hundred.
“She hasn’t missed a day’s work and she is galloping like she’s significantly improved too. She will need to, it is a good version of the race this year.
“If the fence holds up from barrier one, and she can just get a spot or two handier than she normally does, a bit like Waitak the other day, that would be advantageous. But she does have a bit of a habit being sluggish out of the gates, so hopefully she can use that barrier a little bit more than what she has in the past.”
Ritchie is also set to line-up a few promising debutants on Saturday, including well-bred filly Crown of Perfume in the Taranaki Steelformers 1600 at Hawera.
“She is beautifully bred,” Ritchie said. “She is a Wootton Bassett out of a dual Oaks-winning mare in Faint Perfume, and Bart Cummings trained her. I saw her win a VRC Oaks (Gr.1, 2500m) and she also won the AJC Oaks (Gr.1, 2400m).
“As it looks, she is almost certainly going to be a staying filly, which is why we are going to a mile first-up. We don’t do it very often, but she is the type of filly that I doubt will be competitive over 1200 or 1400m, so why not?
“She is going to improve with experience in the run, but I am expecting her to run a cheeky race.”
At Matamata, Hellbent gelding Kumara Straight will also make his debut in the Colchester Engineering Ltd 3YO (1400m).
“Kumara Straight sat three wide in his trial at Ellerslie and he was very strong,” Ritchie said. “He has come up in a very good maiden field, so it won’t be easy.” - Joshua Smith
Faulkner seeking fairytale milestone at Phar Lap centenary
Watching the Phar Lap movie as a girl was the catalyst for Stephanie Faulkner to pursue a career in racing, and it would be a fitting achievement for the Timaru horsewoman to bring up her 100th training win on the equine legend’s centenary at her home meeting on Sunday.
The South Canterbury Racing Club are hosting an 11-race meeting at Phar Lap Raceway this weekend, marking 100 years since Phar Lap’s birth at Seadown Stud, near Timaru.
A jockey in each race will don replicas of trainer Harry Telford’s silks, which Phar Lap (NZ) (Night Raid) carried to 37 victories, including two Cox Plates and the 1930 Melbourne Cup, and finally the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico shortly before his untimely death.
Apprentice jockey Liam Kauri will have the honour of wearing the silks in the Hekeao Feed Co Happy 100th Phar Lap (2200m) when he rides the Stephanie Faulkner-trained Smooth Operator (NZ) (Turn Me Loose), and Faulkner is excited about the prospect of potentially bringing up her century with the iconic silks.
“I am excited about that (Phar Lap’s silks) because when I watched the Phar Lap movie as a young girl who was mad-keen on horses, that was the point where I decided I wanted to be a jockey, “Faulkner said. “I just love the story and I know the movie word for word. I have watched it that many times. I have got it on DVD and I lend it to people and tell them to watch it because it is so good.”
On the cusp of 100 training wins, Faulkner said she would love to achieve the milestone on Sunday and do it in the memory of her mother, who bought Faulkner her first pony.
“I got my first pony when I was 13 because Mum and Dad weren’t into horses and we lived in town,” she said. “Bordering our property was 50 acres and there were a lot of kids down there who had horses, and I just used to beg, borrow and steal every ride I could get. Mum decided I could have a 10-speed or a pony, so guess what I chose?
“We lost Mum a couple of months ago, which was really sudden and really sad. Because I am sitting on 99 wins, she would be so proud, and it would be a fairytale if I could do it on Sunday.”
Smooth Operator heads into Sunday following a second-up fourth placing over a mile at the track last week, and Faulkner said he will thrive over further ground.
“I am really pleased with how he has progressed since his last very encouraging run,” she said. “He came home in nice sectionals, and it looks good because 2200m is his pet distance.”
The seven-year-old gelding is on a path towards the Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton next month, a race he finished 13th in last year.
“We have got a nomination for the New Zealand Cup, so we will go forward to that,” Faulkner said. “It is a slightly different build-up to last year’s New Zealand Cup, which didn’t go that well, but we will give it another crack if he seems in the right form.”
Stablemate Shaking Stevens (NZ) (American Pharoah) pleased when returning to winning form in the North Canterbury Cup (2000m) at Riccarton last Saturday, and he may head to Hastings next week to contest the Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m).
The son of American Pharoah is currently 23rd in order of entry, but with a few expected withdrawals, Faulkner is hoping he can make the 16-horse field.
“He is nominated for the Livamol, so if we get the chance we are going,” she said. “I have to make a decision by Tuesday as soon as the noms come out to see where he is on the list. If he is at worst first on the ballot, we go.”
Meanwhile, consistent mare Way Out West (NZ) (US Navy Flag) is enjoying some time in the paddock after posting her fourth win in seven starts for Faulkner at her home track last week, and stakes targets are now entering the conversation.
“She first raced for us in April and she has gone from a rating 60 to an open class galloper in seven starts,” Faulkner said. “She has just got a great attitude. She is only a little horse, but she loves a dogfight.
“That (stakes race) is the plan, but it won’t be over Cup Week because before Timaru I said she is going out for a month, win, lose or draw, and I stuck to my plan. She has done a good job.
“Hopefully we will find something in autumn. She deserves a crack at them (stakes races) now, she has proven that she wasn’t a fluke.” - Joshua Smith
New Zealand Bloodstock
New Zealand Bloodstock
