Te Akau filly enchanting in Welcome Stakes
Te Akau Racing continued their dominance of New Zealand’s juvenile ranks when taking out the quinella in the Listed Property Brokers Welcome Stakes (1000m).
Trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, who won both of New Zealand’s two-year-old elite-level races this season, were represented in the Riccarton feature by Enchantment (NZ)(Hello Youmzain) and Never Too Much (NZ) (Rubick).
Both have shown plenty of promise on the track, with Never Too Much running third in his two previous starts, while Enchantment had the same form line before finishing runner-up at the Christchurch track last month.
Enchantment was the best away in the eight-horse field and made a beeline to the front. She set a solid tempo under jockey Michael McNab and was never headed, seeing off the late challenge of her fast-finishing stablemate to win by three-quarters of a length.
“She was building to this, she has done well every time she has stepped out to the races,” McNab said.
“I thought her best run was the other day when she was a bit covered up and she chased, but I jumped so well and a couple of the others didn’t, so I took up the lead. She was a little bit green but once she straightened up she picked up well and held them off well.”
Bergerson was pleased to secure black-type for his filly and said the Welcome Stakes has been her main aim for some time.
“Once we couldn’t get her to the Karaka Millions, we worked back from this and we are really stoked to get a black-type win on her CV,” he said.
“It was a good, positive ride by Michael, he summed it up well. She still does a little bit wrong and wanted to lug out a lot in that race.
“She is a sharp filly, she is not overly big, but she is tough and she is coping with it really well.”
Enchantment will bid to add to her stakes tally in next month’s Listed Berkley Stud Champgne Stakes (1200m) at Riccarton, a race Bergerson believes stablemate Never Too Much will be ideally suited to.
“The 1200m black-type in three weeks looks ideal for him (Never Too Much),” Bergerson said. “He is still learning and improving, he just let himself down at the start, but he attacked the line nicely late.
“He is going the right way, he is just taking a bit of time.”
Bred by Emblem Ltd, Enchantment is by Hello Youmzain and out of dual Group Three winner Belle Fascino (NZ).
She was offered through Haunui Farm’s 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft where she was purchased by Sheamus Mills Bloodstock for $60,000.
She has now won one and placed in three of her four starts to date and has earned just shy of her purchase price.
