Castletown Perfect Start for Richards

The Informant's Richard Edmunds reported on Friday (courtesy of The Informant and photo by Trish Dunnell) ...

A gutsy victory by Stella Di Paco in the Listed Castletown Stakes at Wanganui on Saturday brought a dream start to the career of Te Akau Racing's new rookie training partner Jamie Richards.

Defying her odds of 45 to one, the Paco Boy filly was challenged all the way down the straight but refused to surrender, holding on gamely to win by a long neck in a black-type feature which has produced subsequent Group One winners Veandercross, Facing The Music and Altered Image.

It was the first win for the new training partnership of Richards and Stephen Autridge, who took over the Te Akau helm from Jason Bridgman in early May. For Richards it was the very first success of his training career. There are few better ways to start than with an unexpected win in a $50,000 Listed race.

“It was outstanding,” the 25-year-old told The Informant during the week. “It was a big thrill to get the first win, and to do it in a stakes race was just an absolutely massive buzz.

“It really shows what an opportunity it is to be co-training this team of horses and to be working alongside Stephen Autridge, Mark Walker and David Ellis. I can't wait for the new season to begin and hopefully it'll be onwards and upwards from here.”

The black-type breakthrough was a proud moment for Ellis, who identified Richards as a talented young horseman and valuable asset more than a year ago and has watched his impressive rise.

“It was just incredible,” the Te Akau principal said. “When I found out Jamie and Steve had won their first race as a training partnership, and in a stakes race, I was just so proud. I was as proud as if it had been a Group One race.”

The result continued the ascent of one of New Zealand racing's bright young stars. Son of jockey turned trainer Paul Richards, Jamie Richards rode trackwork throughout his education at Otago Boys' High School before earning a degree in management and accounting and a postgraduate diploma in marketing at Otago University.

Then he was a recipient of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's Sunline Scholarship, taking him on an enormously valuable working tour of some of the world's finest studs - Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, Taylor Made Farm in Lexington and Coolmore Ireland.

“That was an amazing experience,” Richards recalled. “The New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association handed me that opportunity just after university and it was more than I could have ever imagined or asked for.

“I travelled for nine months, visiting three countries and spending time on some of the world's greatest stud farms. It was a really valuable experience, I learned a lot and I met some great people.”

Upon his return to New Zealand, Richards worked at New Zealand Bloodstock and then Waikato Stud before joining the Te Akau team as racing manager in March 2014.

“That time I've spent working at Te Akau has given me great foundation for stepping up into the training job,” he said. “I worked closely with Jason, rode work and got to know the processes and how the operation works.”

In a way the young trainer's partnership with Autridge is a case of history repeating. In a previous stint training for Te Akau in the 1990s, Autridge took another bright young talent under his wing - stable foreman Mark Walker, who became a champion trainer in his own right.

“Mark Walker has often told me that he learned more working under Steve Autridge than he learned in any other stage of his career,” Ellis said. “So it's fantastic to have Steve again as the senior trainer and it's great for Jamie to work with such an experienced horseman and teacher.”

A month into the new partnership, Richards cannot speak highly enough of his senior training partner and mentor.

“It's been really good, I'm learning so much,” he said. “My role is pretty hands-on, I'm still riding a lot of the work which I enjoy doing. But it's great to be working alongside Stephen. He's a great trainer who's had around a dozen Group One winners, so it's a brilliant opportunity for me.”

Another string to Richards' bow is his amateur riding career, in which he has put together a sensational record of four wins and two placings from just eight rides. However, the responsibility of co-training a racing team of more than 100 horses means that record is now unlikely to be added to.

But that is an easy sacrifice to make as Richards looks forward to what might lie ahead with Te Akau Racing's talented and blue-blooded stable.

“We have a lot of exciting horses and a great team of people around us,” he said. “It's really exciting and I can't wait for it to start really picking up in the spring.”