Boom Te Akau Galloper in Ominous Form

Te Akau Shark has ticked all the boxes in the lead-up to next Wednesday's Coupland's Bakeries Mile.

With two breath-taking wins and some impressive track gallops under his belt, Te Akau Shark will be one of the hottest favourites of the New Zealand Cup carnival when he lines up in next Wednesday's Gr. 2 Coupland's Bakeries Mile at Riccarton.

The son of Rip Van Winkle boasts a near-perfect record of four wins from five starts, with his only blemish being a close fourth in the Gr. 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas at this carnival last year.

He has gone to a new level as a four-year-old this spring, romping to two dominant victories at Hastings including the Gr. 3 Spring Sprint.

Te Akau Shark was highly impressive in an exhibition gallop between races at Ellerslie on October 27, covering his last 1000 metres in 59.41 seconds and his last 600 in 33.6. Trainer Jamie Richards told The Informant this week that he has continued to go the right way since then.

“We're very pleased with him,” he said. “He's done a bit of work at home and looked good doing so. He's a very clean-winded horse and doesn't carry a lot of condition.

“His gallop on the Matamata course proper yesterday (Monday) morning was particularly strong. Opie (Bosson, jockey) was very pleased with how he felt.”

Te Akau Shark travelled to Christchurch yesterday alongside Sword Of Osman, who is one of the leading contenders for Saturday's Gr. 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas.

It has been one-way traffic on the Coupland's Bakeries Mile market in recent weeks, with Te Akau Shark moving in to $2.60 after his Spring Sprint heroics and continuing to tighten since. On Thursday he was rated a $1.50 chance, with Livin' On A Prayer ($6) the only other runner in single figures.

“He's in good form heading into the Coupland's Mile, where he's obviously a short-priced favourite,” Richards said. “Both of his wins this time in have been very good, and we're expecting him to run well again.”

Matamata trainer Wayne Hillis will go into the race double-handed. Livin' On A Prayer was a last-start placegetter in the Gr. 3 Taranaki Breeders' Stakes, while Watch This Space was fourth in this race last year before finishing second in the Gr. 1 Thorndon Mile.

“They're both well and heading towards the Coupland's Mile in really good order,” Hillis said.

The Tony Pike-trained Rangipo is a last-start winner at Riccarton - his first victory since the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby in March of 2016.

“It was great to see,” Pike said. “He's had a few issues over the years, but it was really fantastic to get another win out of him.

“He's still really enjoying his racing, and his form had been pretty consistent without quite getting over the line. He deserved to get back into the winners' circle.

“Obviously Te Akau Shark is going to be extremely hard to beat in the Coupland's Mile, but we'll go into it with a fit horse who's back in winning form.”