Ravishing Wee Reiko

In training for breeder Joan Egan, Reiko  (3 f Reliable Man - Lady Eiko, by Stravinsky) recorded a very good debut win in the $10,000 Auckland Alarms Maiden 1200 metres on 6 November at Avondale.

Ridden by Matt Cameron, who took his tally of wins for Te Akau to 236, Reiko settled seventh on the inner, six lengths 600m, tracked up the rail before angling off at the 200m and the richly coloured filly was too strong over the concluding stages.

“I rode her at the trials awhile ago when she had blinkers on for the first time and they wanted to see what she had, so I jumped and pushed her forward and she travelled a little bit keen,” Cameron said. “The plan today was to ride her handier, but she was a little bit slow out of the gates and it's probably worked in her favour. She relaxed nicely and had a good turn of foot. She ran the leader down and won well.”

On track conditions (Dead4) that appeared to suit all horses, Reiko ran the 1200 metres in 1:11.8, last 600m in 34.8, and paid $6.10 & $1.50 on the NZ TAB tote. 

“She's always shown some natural talent and I was pleased to see her win first-up,” said trainer Jamie Richards, who leads the premiership with 31 wins. “We broke her in at Te Akau and she's come through the system. 

“It was a nice ride by Matt. He took his time early and she finished off strongly. A filly with a nice pedigree, we'll pick and choose a bit now and look for a suitable race up in grade.”

Prior to winning, Reiko had quickened well while drawing clear with a rival (second) when trialling on 23 October at Te Teko.

“She trialled really well at Te Teko,” said racing manager Libby Richards.  â€œShe's always trialled well but taken awhile to put it all together. Mentally, she's a little bit immature but she won well today.

“She finished over top of them and it was lovely to train a winner for Joan Egan.”

From the family of impressive winner November Rain (Stravinsky), her dam, Lady Eiko (Stravinsky), won two races to 1600 metres. 

“It was lovely and I thought it was a very good win,” said Joan Egan, who, although unable to be there, was represented by her daughter Caroline and husband Matt. 

“Jamie is brilliant to deal with. I breed my own racehorses and I've got definite ideas on what I like. I'm sure not every trainer would like to have me. Reiko is Lady Eiko's first foal and Jamie has looked after her all the way through. 

“I can't fault Te Akau at all. They've been superb, quite frankly, and I don't say that lightly. I get a report every week and even when they're spelling I get a report.”

Te Akau principal David Ellis has often purchased horses bred by Egan, most notably Sword of Osman (Savabeel).

“He's been the standout,” Egan said. “Winning a Group One, Group Two, Group Three, and Listed, and Te Akau has also got another one of mine, Bunyah's Ocean Park filly. I own her and she's broken in, doing some pre-training and learning the ropes.” 

Reiko was strapped by Anna Jones.

Photo credit - www.raceimages.co.nz

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