Another Te Akau NZ Winner

Off a 64-day break, Orinto (3 f Iffraaj - The Perfume Garden, by Tights)  produced a gutsy on pace performance to run out the winner of the Shocking @ Rich Hill Stud Maiden 1400 metres for fillies and mares on July 3 at Te Rapa.

The Te Akau team has been in good form of late, winning with four of its last eight runners, and never further back than fourth in her four starts to date there was few more deserved than the Haunui Farm filly Orinto.

Let bowl from the outset by jockey Matt Cameron, Orinto worked through to contest the pace from the 700 metres and after kicking to an advantage mid-straight she saw off a challenge to win well. Running 1:26.4 on footing downgraded from Slow7 to Slow9, the filly still had reserves to press on nicely after the line.

It was an astute decision by trainer Jason Bridgman to tip Orinto out for a freshen-up following a fourth on April 30 at Otaki, and further strengthening in the two-month reprieve allowed to her convert the consistency.

“It was great to see a plan come together,” said Bridgman. “We had a plan to resume at 1400 metres after the break and having been a bit tardy in the gates we put the barrier blanket on and she began cleanly.

“Often horses on their first prep can come back recharged; they know what they're doing and it was a good result for the Iffraaj fillies who are going well, and a great win for the breeders,” said Bridgman.

“It was a really good effort, they were never going to get past her and she is the first Iffraaj we've had win in the Haunui colours,” said Shannon Taylor, Marketing and Operations Manager at Haunui Farm. She's out of an older Haunui mare that we didn't have a filly from, so we decided to retain her to race. She has taken a little while to grow out and shape up, but she had been really consistent. Jason (Bridgman) said she needed a freshen-up and she went back to the stables a different filly.

The dam of Orinto, The Perfume Garden (Tights), won five times from 1100m to 1500m, and four progeny of her grand-dam, Garden of Eden (Balmerino), won twenty races between them.

“The Perfume Garden was given a great opportunity as a broodmare and had a stakes performing Zabeel mare in Australia, for Bart Cummings,” said Taylor. [Zazabelle (Zabeel) was the first foal from the mare and finished third in the 1999 Melbourne Cup won by her stable-mate Rogan Josh].

“We sold quite a few of our Iffraaj progeny from the first crop, so it has been nice to be able to retain a winner and hopefully she can work her way through the grades a bit. Iffraaj himself raced on as a four and five year old and like a lot of them they will continue to get better with time,” said Taylor.

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