A Season of Success continues ...

A special favourite of the stable gave his hugely patient owners such a thrill in the past record-breaking Te Akau black type season - we reflect on the courage of Chambord, another of Te Akau's 2017/18 stakes' winning brigade ...

Immense in courage and talent, Chambord (7 g Zabeel - Miss Montjeu, by Montjeu) returned off a lengthy spell to win second up in the $50,000 Fasttrack Insurance Levin Stakes (Listed, 1200m) in December at Otaki - a race Te Akau was successful in with Burgundy (Redoute's Choice) in 2012.

He's a horse that had been through the mill when it came to injuries, including a serious leg injury sustained in his final track gallop before heading to Christchurch for the Group 2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile, for which he was pre-post printers' elect.

A stable favourite, Chambord had always been a gentleman through his periods of rehab, and after clocking the fastest last 600m (32.7) of the day, when fourth fresh-up in the Legacy Lodge Sprint (Listed, 1200m) in November at Te Rapa, he gained a richly deserved stakes' win.

For the patient owners it was a win well worth waiting for and a credit to everyone that enabled it to happen.

Purchased by Te Akau principal and syndicate manager David Ellis as a yearling for $200,000 at the 2012 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale, from the draft of Cambridge Stud, Chambord was good enough to finish second to ill-fated stallion Atlante (Fastnet Rock) in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m). He competed consistently against the best in the land, when in action, and funnily enough his last campaign as a seven-year-old was probably his best - typical of the pedigree, and enormously creditable given what he had endured.

Interestingly, although by the mighty Zabeel (Sir Tristram) from a mare by Montjeu (Sadler's Wells), the French and Irish Derby winner that also won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes; a stallion that made significant impact as a sire in New Zealand, Chambord was more at home over sprint trips than longer distances thought suitable given his pedigree.

Reason could stem from his dam, Miss Montjeu, displaying plenty of dash to win over 1150 metres and passing that sprinting ability on to Chambord.

Even the stamina enhancing cross of Sir Ivor (sire of Sir Tristram) in his bloodlines could not induce genuine staying qualities. Chambord liked to sprint and it was role that he was very proficient in.

Chambord was retired recently and is loving his new, relaxing life.