Aotea Lad - Grp 2 Winner on Debut

Thought good enough to contest the time-honoured $100,000 Wakefield Stakes (Gr. 2, 1100m) on debut, Aotea Lad (2 g Savabeel - Corsage, by Volksraad) became the ninth stakes winner this season for premiership leading trainer Jamie Richards on Saturday at Trentham.

In the wake of Melody Belle (Commands), who won the first two Group One races in the spring, and Group Two & Three winner Te Akau Shark (Rip Van Winkle), Aotea Lad joined past winners of the Wakefield for Te Akau: Maroofity (Maroof), Kapsdan (Kaapstad), and King's Ransom (King's Chapel), in the race sponsored by Anuka Smoker.

Presented looking a picture, Aotea Lad travelled on a nice rein for Opie Bosson, tucked in behind the leaders, received a lovely split two off the rail at the 400m and never looked in danger after reaching the front at the 200m.

A young horse with lovely conformation and an action to match, his pedigree suggested Slow8 footing could cause an issue, but covering the trip in 1:04.8 for the 1100 metres (down the chute) gave indication of better going.

“At the fifty metres he started looking around at the big screen and the winning post, but there was plenty more left in the tank,” Bosson said.

“He showed a good turn of foot when I put the pressure on him, until he got there (lead) by himself and that's when a bit of greenness kicked in and he had a look around.

“He's only had two trials and still doesn't know what he's doing, but he's a pretty special horse.”

Asked to compare Aotea Lad with two-year-old stable-mate Probabeel (Savabeel), an impressive winner a week earlier at Ellerslie, Bosson said:

“She's classy. Probably two different types of horses, but you can't really do much more than win and I like both these horses. This guy is such a professional and there's good things coming for him.”

Aotea Lad was purchased as a yearling by David Ellis for $200,000, from the draft of Phoenix Park, at the 2018 Karaka Book 1 Sale, and owned by the Te Akau Love Life Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

“Mark Walker and I bought Corsage for $25,000 from the Select Sale at Karaka,” Ellis said. “She was a much better filly than her record suggests. She was desperately unlucky not to win the (Diamond) Sistema Stakes, beaten a nose and half a head, and very unlucky not to win the Karaka Million that year.

“A group of us that raced her decided we would breed from her and she hadn't had a lot of luck there either. Her first foal was a Darci Brahma that died, so I asked the owners of this colt ‘do you want to keep and race him, or sell him?' We had divided answers, so I said the easiest thing to do is put him in the sale (Karaka) and I liked him so much that I bought him and Karyn syndicated him.

“He was a stunner from the day he was born and I'm so thrilled to have another really good chance in the Karaka Million,” he said, having won the two previous editions of the race with Melody Belle and Avantage (Fastnet Rock), both named Champion Two-Year-Old.

“He's owned by some of my best mates, including Gilbert Southworth, John Elstob and Sam Boyd,” Ellis said. “Corsage was John's first horse and now he has a number with me. Gilbert is a director of Te Akau Stud, and my accountant, and he worked at Te Akau Stud in his school holidays and of course Sam used to be our farm manager before he retired to Great Barrier Island.

“It's pretty exciting and for Jamie (Richards) to have already won nine black type races this season, only four months into the season, is a fantastic achievement. Everyone is realising just what a great job he's doing. It's not easy to take a horse to Trentham and win a Group Two at their first start, and not many trainers can do it. It takes a good horseman and a good team to achieve these results.

“And Opie (Bosson), he's just so fit and strong now and making really good decisions in his races, and he's been telling me for weeks now that this horse is pretty good. So, he was spot on again and it was a lovely ride, and you just get so much confidence having him in the saddle because he doesn't make mistakes.”

Deputizing on course for trainer Jamie Richards, who was at Ellerslie, Paul Richards said: “Earlier on in the spring he was very coltish and the decision was made to geld him and it's been the makings of him. Since then he's turned into a racehorse and he's got it all in front of him.

“It was always the plan to ride him back, like we did at the trials, get a drag across the junction and try and get over them late. Obviously, he's going to improve a lot from today. The (overnight) trip away from home is all learning for him.” Richards also said that Aotea Lad could now contest the Eclipse Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m) on 1 January at Ellerslie, on path to the Karaka Million (Restricted Listed, 1200m) on 26 January at Ellerslie.

Trainer Jamie Richards said: “It was an exciting win and it's been a big effort by the team. He trialled well in the spring, but became colty and Dave (Ellis) was supportive of gelding him and he's gone to another level since then. His demeanour and attitude has changed and he's a real racehorse now.

“He trialled well last week at Matamata, and I thought in the back of my mind that the race could come up a bit light, so we pumped some work into him and thankfully it all worked out really well.

“To wins a stakes' race at his first start speaks volumes for the quality of horse that we hope he's going to develop in to and there's plenty of improvement still to come.

“It was a lovely ride by Opie. He found a perfect gap at the 400m, quickened up and really rode him well. So, he an exciting horse and we've got some very loyal owners in him and we're looking forward to the future.

“He'll come home and could have a freshen-up for a few days, and the Karaka Million will be the aim. Exactly how we get there is still to be decided, but it could be via the Eclipse (Stakes) and wherever he goes he should be more than competitive.”

Corsage (Volksraad), from Spray (Entrepreneur), in turn from the great race mare Seamist (Beaufort Sea), was a winner on debut and Joint Second Top Filly on the 2008-09 2YO Free Handicaps. She placed in both the Diamond Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) and Matamata Breeders' Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m) as a two-year-old, with stakes placed finishes in the Ray Coupland Stakes (Listed, 1400m), Sunline Vase (Listed, 2100m), and fourth in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m). Transferred to Mark Walker in Singapore, she won a further two races and increased her stakes earnings to $270,000.

Aotea Lad was strapped by Meg Lambert.

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz