He's 3 from 3

The Informant reports:

Heroic Valour took his record to three wins from as many starts in today's Gr. 1 Sistema Diamond Stakes at Ellerslie, but the scary part is that the big colt is still far from a complete racehorse.

Lining up as an unwanted $18 outsider despite wins at his only two previous starts, Heroic Valour showed similar green tendencies as in his Trentham and Matamata wins, yet he was still too strong for the quality field.

At the line he had a neck to spare over the fast finishing Wyndspelle, with a nose to the pacemaker O'Rachael. The favourite Xiong Feng was an abject failure after being slow from his wide gate and then hanging out so badly that his rider Danielle Johnson virtually pulled him up.

Heroic Valour became the first two-year-old Group One winner for his champion sire Fastnet Rock and the third to win the race for Te Akau Racing. The victory continued a big season for the new training partnership of Stephen Autridge and Jamie Richards, their fourth Group One success and their 67^th win all told at the top of the premiership.

“Who knows how good he is?” queried Autridge. “He's still green and doesn't know what he's doing, so it's still all in front of him.”

For the immediate future Autridge and company are relishing the thought of Heroic Valour stepping up to 1400 metres in the second leg of the autumn Group One double, the Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes at Awapuni in three weeks' time.

“He was flat managing the 1200 metres today but he's just going to love the 1400 at Awapuni.”

Te Akau principal David Ellis paid $400,000 for the half-brother to Doncaster Handicap winner Triple Honour at last year's Karaka sales and he went back there this year and paid $510,000 for a full brother. Today he allowed himself to look further ahead with the strapping bay.

“We bought him as part of our stallion-making programme and he's got it all,” Ellis said. “He'll be some horse by the time the 2000 Guineas comes around in the spring.”

Heroic Valour was originally registered as Military Cross, but had to be renamed when Australian authorities decided, as syndicate manager Karyn Fenton-Ellis put it, “the name sounded a bit too much like a medal”.

The win was a great result for heavyweight Awapuni jockey Jonathan Riddell, who was brought into play with stable first choice Matt Cameron committed to Sassy 'N' Smart. Recent wins on Te Akau runners Bordeaux and Echezeaux were the fore-runner to a perfect hat-trick in the orange and blue colours.

“He's a lovely horse, full of raw power,” said Riddell, whose previous big wins at Ellerslie include the New Zealand Derby on Jimmy Choux.