Heroic Valour Thriving

Te Akau's Group One winner Heroic Valour (Fastnet Rock) enjoyed a quiet trial at Hawkesbury on Monday (see report below) ahead of his Queensland campaign.

The Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards-trained colt finished third in his 1000-metre heat without being out under any pressure.

The three-year-old will make his Australian debut in the Gr. 3 Gold Coast Guineas on 6 May with Richards confirming that Opie Bosson will take the ride.

Providing Heroic Valour races up to expectations, the Gr. 1 Darley Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm on 27 May will be his primary target.
Heat 2: Open 1000 metres (time 58.9) track: Turf, Good4

Heroic Valour (3 c Fastnet Rock - Myrrh) - Jason Collett; began smartly to land outside the leader, he steadied one off into a line of three as the pacemaker tore ahead, and never off the bridle he surged home boldly for third.

Co-trainer Jamie Richard, with the colt in Sydney, was very pleased with both his performance and the way his has settled in.

He heads north today with stable-mate Shocking Luck (Shocking) to Brisbane, in preparation for the $125,000 Gold Coast Guineas (Gr. 3, 1200m) on Saturday 6 May at the Gold Coast Turf Club.

Owned by the Te Akau 2015 Breeding Syndicate (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), David Ellis purchased Heroic Valour for $400,000 as a yearling, from the draft of Curraghmore Stud, at the 2015 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale.

Unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, including the Diamond Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m), and second in the 2016 Two-Year-Old NZ Free Handicaps, he resumed with a win at three and was very game when finishing third in the 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m). Freshened since a top run for fourth in the weight-for-age NRM Sprint (Gr. 1, 1400m) on 11 February at Te Rapa, following narrow defeat in the Karaka 3YO Mile (Listed, 1600m), he has fresh legs for his upcoming assignments in Brisbane.