6 Wins in 24 Hours - Three Countries
Date: 1 Oct 2023
It was a stellar 24 hours starting at 12.15 am Saturday (NZ time) with Te Akau's star mare Imperatriz blitzing her rivals at Moonee Valley in the A$750,000 group 1 Moir Stakes - breaking her own 1000m record in the process.
'Berri' (as she is affectionately known) has smashed the track record at her previous start three weeks prior when she trounced a class field including last year's Everest winner Gigi Kick in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes over the 1000m in 56.68. That record left observers in awe of her effort and on Friday night she was back at The Valley to make a statement that the previous start was no fluke.
With Te Akau stable rider Opie Bosson back in the saddle, the Queen of the Tangerine again set The Valley alight with a scintillating turn of foot to outdo her rivals again - and break her own track record in a scorching time of 56.47.
Last season's Champion Sprinter/Miler of the Year, Imperatriz is now unbeaten at Moonee Valley, having won two Group 1 titles and a Group 2 from her three appearances. Well done to the whole team - Mark, Ben and also lairs who rides Berri in track work and Jason her dedicated strapper.
In other incredible news, it has been confirmed that she joins northern hemisphere superstar Paddington as the only two horses to have won four Group 1 races in 2023.
That is something we are super proud of.
We were also delighted to learn that a public vote saw Imperatriz attract 45% of support to be the horse to run for charity on Friday night - you may have seen she had a different saddle cloth (below). Due to her delivering the win, Make A Wish Foundation Australia won A$2,000 - another magic result Berri delivered for a very important organisation, making such a difference to the lives of young people facing huge challenges.
Imperatriz was purchased by David Ellis CNZM at the Magic Million's Sale for A$360,000 - she has now won 15 of her 21 starts, earning A$2,341,974 for her owners. She heads to the Group 1 Mankato Stakes next start, the final weekend of October.
One race later, unbeaten Group 2 winning filly Zourion contested the Group 2 Scarborough Stakes for 3YO Fillies - with no luck from her wide gate, she copped a lot of traffic and bumping in the running, and did well to rally for sixth place.
Back to New Zealand and Saturday it was Riccarton to the fore - with our Southern team headed by Ashley and Kendyll doing a super job with our Christchurch-based horses - three wins on the programme by Mazzucato, Trobriand (Guineas' Trial) and It's Business Time.
Saturday celebrations continued as 3YO filly Rubicon Crossing stepped out on her Australian debut at Mornington in a A$50,000 Benchmark 1000m for the Fortuna team - despite being slow away for rider Harry Coffey, a no panic ride saw the Rubick filly rattling home for a 2.5 length win. Well done again to Mark, Ben and Jason - it's a formidable strike rate currently for Te Akau Australia.
The New Zealand strike rate overall currently sits at a superb 3.32. To Mark, Sam, Reece, Nicole and every single member of the tangerine team - your hard work and passion shows, and we are so lucky to have the best team you could wish for - not just in New Zealand but Cranbourne and Kranji too!
Then it was the turn of our Singapore stable as God's Gift duly obliged in a S$30,000 event - another one for Donna and our Kranji team.
We could not be more proud of our hard working and dedicated team - across three stables internationally - and delighted for our loyal owners who make Te Akau their 'stable of choice'.