Spring Targets Beckon For Te Akau Australia

Spring is beginning to stir in Melbourne, and Te Akau Australia is preparing to step into the heart of it, with an exciting group of proven Group One performers and emerging talent building towards their first assignments of the new season.

Three of Te Akau’s Group One-winning stars - Belle Cheval, Geegees Mistruth and Seize The Day - will continue their spring preparations with jump-outs at Caulfield on Wednesday 19 August, alongside four-time Group and Listed winner Bellatrix Star and exciting three-year-old filly Wonderful Sky.

The high-class line-up has been building fitness under the watchful eye of trainer Mark Walker and Assistant Trainer Ben Gleeson as well as the Te Akau Australia team at Cranbourne, as the stable gathers momentum heading into one of the most important periods on the Australian racing calendar.

Te Akau Australia has already made a positive start to the new season, recording its third win when I Am Aria (I Am Invincible) won at Bendigo on 12 August. She followed victories by Stage ’n’ Screen (Ace High) at Flemington and Dismantle (Spirit Of Boom) at Bairnsdale.

Now attention begins to turn firmly towards spring.

Victoria’s Spring Racing Carnival officially gets underway at Caulfield on Saturday 29 August, beginning 12 weeks of top-flight racing featuring some of Australia’s most coveted races, including the Caulfield Cup, Cox Plate, Victoria Derby and Melbourne Cup.

And Te Akau heads into it with some established stars preparing to return to centre stage.

The only New Zealand-trained Group One winner in Australia last season and a finalist for Champion Three-Year-Old, Belle Cheval (4 m Savabeel - Keepa Cheval, by Keeper) has continued to progress strongly towards her four-year-old campaign.

The outstanding mare looked in good order when hitting the line strongly for third in an 800-metre trial at Caulfield on 16 July.

Following Wednesday’s jump-out, Belle Cheval is scheduled to resume in the Courtza Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday 29 August.

Her spring programme could then see her return to Caulfield for the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) on 19 September and Toorak Handicap (Gr. 1, 1600m) on 10 October, before travelling to Sydney for the $10 million Golden Eagle (Gr. 1, 1500m) at Randwick on 31 October.

Belle Cheval announced herself on the Australian stage in emphatic fashion last season when winning the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr. 1, 2000m) at Rosehill Gardens on 28 March.

On that same memorable day for Te Akau, another future spring contender was creating his own piece of history on home soil.

While Belle Cheval was winning in Sydney, Seize The Day (3 c I Am Invincible - Zimaretto, by Anabaa) delivered Te Akau its 10th Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m) victory at Trentham.

The striking colt was purchased as a yearling by Sir David Ellis on the Gold Coast and is a finalist for Champion Two-Year-Old alongside stablemate Lara Antipova (Russian Revolution).

Seize The Day had a tidy first hit-out when finishing second at Cranbourne on 3 August and, following Wednesday’s Caulfield jump-out, is scheduled to begin his three-year-old season in the McNeil Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m) at Caulfield on 29 August.

Another Group One-winning mare preparing for a spring return is Geegees Mistruth (5 m Wordsmith - Miss Mana, by Jetball).

Geegees Mistruth produced one of the highlights of Te Akau Australia’s season when winning the $1 million Sportsbet Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr. 1, 1200m) at Morphettville on 25 April.

Wednesday’s jump-out will be her first public appearance of the new preparation as she builds towards a return in the Moir Stakes (Gr. 1, 1000m) at Sandown on 5 September.

She could be joined there by another familiar tangerine mare.

Four-time Group and Listed winner Bellatrix Star (5 m Star Witness - Alana’s Party, by Exceed And Excel) will also step out at Caulfield on Wednesday as she continues her comeback from a lengthy injury break.

Bellatrix Star signalled she had lost none of her ability with a terrific return at Caulfield on 11 July, coming from last to finish second in the Sir John Monash Stakes (Gr. 3, 1100m).

Following Wednesday’s jump-out, she too is scheduled to target the Moir Stakes (Gr. 1, 1000m) at Sandown on 5 September.

It is a race with special significance for Te Akau, having been won in 2023 by the stable’s 10-time Group One winner Imperatriz (I Am Invincible).

Adding further depth to Wednesday’s team is exciting three-year-old filly Wonderful Sky (3 f Ole Kirk - Medic, by Snitzel).

Wonderful Sky showed considerable promise during her first racing preparation, following a close debut second with a smart victory before finishing runner-up in the Sportsbet Breeders’ Stakes (Gr. 3, 1200m).

She is also entered for Wednesday’s Caulfield jump-outs and is currently scheduled to resume over 1000 metres at Sandown on 9 September.

With established Group One winners returning, talented younger horses taking the next step and the stable already on the board with three victories for the new season, the foundations are firmly in place at Cranbourne.

Wednesday represents another important step in those preparations as Te Akau Australia moves out of winter and into spring, with a quality group of tangerine runners ready to take their place on the Australian stage!