A Pearler of a Win
15 July, 2024
Having her first start for the stable, Pearl Crescent (3 f Not A Single Doubt – Blue Morpho, by Hussonet) won the A$27,000 Gullifer Farm Maiden 1400 metres on 14 July at Wodonga, Victoria.
Te Akau Australia trainer Mark Walker had given Pearl Crescent a 1000-metre jump out on 17 June at Cranbourne, where she found the line nicely between runners from back in the field, and the filly sporting a white blaze received opportunity to produce an encouraging fresh-up performance.
Drawn barrier two and ridden by former NZ jockey Cory Parish, who won the 2017 Caulfield Cup (Gr. 1, 2400m) aboard Boom Time, Pearl Crescent was well situated in midfield before travelling up nicely turning for home and she sustained a determined finish to score narrowly.
On footing rated Heavy10, Pearl Crescent ran 1400 metres in 1:27.9 and drifted from early favouritism to pay $4.10 & $2.00 on the NZ TAB tote.
Having her first start on turf, Pearl Crescent had previously raced twice last year on synthetic tracks.
Owned by Trilogy Racing (Mgr: Mrs. Melanie Stenning), Pearl Crescent was recently purchased by Trilogy Racing for A$11,000 through Inglis at the 2024 March (Late) Online Sale, and a lovely type of filly that was originally sold as a yearling for A$550,000 at Magic Millions.
“Trilogy was involved in her original purchase and bought her back when the partnership was dissolved,” Walker said.
“They gave her to us with the hope of trying to win a race because she’s got a good pedigree and will in time be a valuable breeding proposition.”
By Champion Sire Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice), one of the most successful stallions in Australia, who died in 2022, Pearl Crescent is out of a mare (Blue Morpho) that won three times to 1600 metres, and is from the family of Adelaide Cup (Gr. 1, 3200m) winner Apache King (Waajib).
“Trilogy is racing quite a few horses, so it was satisfying to get a first-up win for them,” Walker added.
“It’s not easy to win fresh-up over 1400 metres on heavy ground, but our assistant trainer Ben (Gleeson) and the team have got her confidence levels high and she had gone the right way since a nice jump out over 1000 metres.
“We’ll see if we can get another win with her, which would add further to her value, but ultimately Trilogy has bought her to breed from this season.”
Pearl Crescent became the 24th win for Walker this season, from the Te Akau stables at Cranbourne, in a season highlighted by nine stakes' victories including five Group One wins by Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), and over A$6.8 million in prize money won for Te Akau owners.
Walker also partners Sam Bergerson in training the Te Akau team at Matamata, in New Zealand, where they lead the premiership with 168 wins, the second highest in NZ history, and 70 clear of their nearest rival, with almost $8 million in stakes' earnings.
“It’s been a great season for Te Akau in both Australia and New Zealand,” Walker added.
“We’ve got a brilliant training facility at Cranbourne, a really great team of staff, and we’re building nicely in horse numbers heading into next season.
“Funnily enough, there seems to be a bit of misconception that we only train Te Akau horses, but that’s certainly not the case. We’ve got horses in work for private owners and breeders in both NZ and Australia.
“We are definitely public trainers and once Trilogy Racing found that out, they’ve supported us, along with other owners, and we love getting to know new people and developing associations.
“David Ellis (CNZM) started Te Akau Racing over 40 years ago, and so far we’ve won 14 premierships between New Zealand and our stables in Singapore, and we’re very excited to be broadening our horizons in Australia.”
Pearl Crescent was strapped by Wyatt Jenkins - the son of Melbourne Cup winning trainer Brian Jenkins.
Photo credit - Wodonga RC