Ritchie and Murray buoyed by next wave

There is a changing of the guard at the Cambridge stables of Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray as veteran gallopers Mahrajaan (Kitten's Joy) and Nereus (NZ) (Savabeel) have been retired, paving way for the younger generation to take centre stage.

Imported stayer Mahrajaan signed off with a ninth placing in the Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) on Champions Day at Ellerslie, a race he won 12 months earlier on the back of winning the Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m).

Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) winner Nereus had his final start when fifth in the Gr.3 Avondale Cup, with his six career victories also including the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m).

“They are both fantastic horses and both dual Cup winners,” Ritchie said.

“Nereus was the first horse we’ve had for Waikato Stud which was a big kick along for us and we have had some good success buying from Waikato Stud with Tuxedo (NZ) (Tivaci) and some other lovely horses since, so we hope that relationship continues.

“He was a good genuine horse who just lacked a little bit of size and couldn’t carry weight and that stopped him from going all the way, but he raced through the grades really well. He won an Awapuni Gold Cup and a Counties Cup and some of those nice races you like to win and put in the trophy cabinet.”

Ritchie said out and out stayers like Mahrajaan were hard to place beyond a handful of targets each year.

“I think he was the first horse in 60 years to win a New Zealand-Auckland Cup double so that was a fantastic feat and he is a genuine two miler which made it hard getting him through the grades, placing him down in the grades, but at that elite level with those bigger races you want to win he was fantastic.

“We went to England to source him and he is probably one of the best bred horses in New Zealand, being closely related to Baaeed (Sea the Stars) and Hukum (Sea the Stars).

“He was a horse that just needed time. We identified he was a horse that lacked that bit of topline and a bit of strength and he would probably do very well in a New Zealand paddock and that is exactly what happened so it was good to get the best out of him on two of the biggest days.”

Meanwhile Ritchie was delighted with the run of stable star Tuxedo when third behind Legarto (NZ) (Proisir) in the Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) with spring weight-for-age targets high on the agenda.

“Tuxedo is clearly our most exciting horse next season,” Ritchie said. “His last run in the Bonecrusher was fantastic. His sectionals were the fastest from the 1000m onwards from a wide gate.

“We just wanted to make sure he would run the 2000m right out and that’s exactly what he did.

“After winning the Aotearoa Classic at a mile, we wanted to make sure we were aiming the right way and knew where to go in the spring and he gave us all those answers. He will work his way through the Triple Crown weight-for-age series in New Zealand and then we will see how good we are at that point to see where we go from there.”

Ritchie and Murray also feel they have identified the appropriate trip for classy three-year-old Tajana (NZ) (Darci Brahma), with the multiple Group Three winner pegged as a miler following her eighth placing in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m).

“She had a long season so she is enjoying a very good break now,” Ritchie said.

“She has a beautiful temperament and is a lovely style of a filly, a real Darci Brahma filly that will almost certainly make a beautiful broodmare later on, especially if she throws that temperament and that attitude into the way she presents herself around the stable and even on raceday.

“I don’t think she ever got out of a walk in the birdcage in any race. She won the Northland Breeders’s (Gr.3, 1200m) early in the season and stayed up basically all season racing continuously well.

“The Oaks was obviously a trip too far for her and I think she will make into a lovely miler. She will be perfectly suited in those fillies and mare and Breeders’ Stakes races over the spring and into the summer.

“If she can get to an Aotearoa Classic ($1 million, 1600m) as a four-year-old only race, that will be her ultimate goal.”

Winning juvenile Summer Schemer (Dirty Work) will be aimed at early-season three-year-old targets, with the daughter of Dirty Work well-held when eighth in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

“She is obviously a 1200m filly,” Ritchie said. “We rolled the dice in the Sires’ Produce and it was probably a mistake. She needs a good deck and she got a wet track that day and 1400m was probably a question mark anyway.

“She has gone for a break and she will come back for those early three-year-old filly races in mind, as once they get to 1400m and a mile, she will struggle.”

With 22 two-year-olds in work at present, Ritchie said it was the perfect time of year to trial and educate horses.

“I thought we bought well at the yearling sales two years ago and probably needed to spend a bit more this year. I am looking forward to our rising three-year-olds more than any other crop in recent memory,” Ritchie said.

“It is hard this early to identify the next star, but we just saw a lovely filly by Staphanos win a trial at Ellerslie yesterday (Explosive Express (NZ) (Staphanos)). She is a half-sister to multiple Derby winner Explosive Jack (NZ) (Jakkalberry).

“We have a Dirty Work colt that has won two trials out of two. If he is not sold to Hong Kong then he is going to be a horse to look forward to in the spring and we have a beautiful St Mark’s Basilica colt that we bought at Karaka out of Savaria (NZ).

“He is doing everything right although we haven’t put any real pressure on him yet. He walks around like he owns the place. Being by St Mark’s Basilica, we call him God, so hopefully he lives up to his nickname.”