Four Win Saturday - Quintefeuille So Quick

Little more than a walk in the park, Quintefeuille (2 g Xtravagant – Quintette, by Alamosa) easily accounted for his rivals in the $40,000 Entain/NZB Insurance Pearl Series 2YO 1000 metres on Saturday at Riccarton.

Victory added to a fabulous start to the meeting for Te Akau Racing trainers Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson, having won with Beau Brummell (Embellish) and Lady Of Court (Savabeel), while Plenty O’ Style (Embellish) finished second.

Back off the map as a $1.05 fixed odds favourite prior to the race, Quintefeuille, fair to say, performed in keeping with such prohibitive odds, winning in a cakewalk by six lengths for Te Akau apprentice jockey Niranjan Parmar.

The tote price ($1.10) also justified his fine debut form when second to stable-mate and subsequent Karaka Million 2YO (Restricted Listed, 1200m) runner-up Damask Rose (Savabeel) on 27 December at New Plymouth.

On Soft5 footing, Quintefeuille ran 1000 metres in 56.8 and added to the recent wins for owners Karyn-Fenton-Ellis MNZM and David and Matthew Peacocke (Weston Lea), who bred the gelding together with Waihi Livestock.

David Ellis CNZM and Weston Lea also race another homebred, Qali Al Farrasha (Almanzor), who earned a start in the upcoming $150,000 Lowland Stakes (Gr. 2, 2100m), following an impressive win during the week at Matamata, while Te Akau bred Beau Brummell (Embellish) won earlier on the programme.

“It was a really good win and while not sure about the strength of opposition, he certainly did it pretty easily,” Walker said.

“It’s only his second start, so he’ll only improve for the experience and age, and we’ll see how he pulls up before planning his next race.

“It’s great to have the stables at Riccarton, where Hunter Durrant and the team are doing such a good job, and the trip away and being stabled down south is quite often the making of horses.”

Quintefeuille is a half-brother to former stable-mate and stakes' winner Quattro Quinta (Darci Brahma). Their dam Quintette (Alamosa) was a stakes' placed winner, finishing runner-up at just her second start as a two-year-old in Welcome Stakes (Listed, 1000m) on NZ Cup at Riccarton, while grand-dam Everswindell (Align) finished second in 1000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m), third in both Sir Tristram Fillies' Classic (Gr. 2, 2000m) and Lowland Stakes (Gr. 3, 2100m), before placing in the Wellington Cup (Gr. 1, 3200m) and winning the New Zealand Cup (Gr. 2, 3200m).

Dual Group One winning sire Xtravagant (Pentire) was purchased as a yearling by David Ellis CNZM at Karaka, and won the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) by eight lengths in a staggering record time (1:33.59, last 600m in 33.04), before claiming the Waikato Sprint (Gr.1 1400m) against the older horses by the same margin.  He is at  alongside another Group One winning purchase, Cool Aza Beel (Savabeel), each now standing at Newhaven Park (NSW).

“Xtravagant is making a real impact at stud and it looks like Quintefeuille is another promising horse for him,” Ellis said.

“It’s a really good family, Quintette was a good filly that we never saw the best of and she’s already proved herself as a broodmare through the deeds of Quattro Quinta.

“His oldest progeny are only five-year-olds, Xtravagant, he’s already had five individual stakes winners among 76 individual winners and a very good ratio of winners to starters.”

Quintefeuille has a cross of immortal sire Northern Dancer (Nearctic), through sire line of Xtravagant and dam-sire line of Quintette. 

Quintefeuille was strapped by Ashlyn Lee. 

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz