Te Akau NZ Matamata Preview

Te Akau New Zealand has five horses entered for the ten-race programme on Thursday Nov. 21 at Matamata.  As on Monday Nov. 18 the conditions were: fine and Dead4, rail out 9 metres.

1:37pm R2 16 Tiara (3 f O'Reilly - Royal Lady) - Matt Cameron; is having her first start for Te Akau after finishing ninth on debut over 1400 metres on Oct. 23 at Te Aroha. Her grand-dam Royal Tiara (Blanco) won the 1995 Auckland Cup (Gr. 1, 3200m) and her dam, Royal Lady (Stravinsky), recorded her five wins around 2000 metres. From a wide draw she will be ridden for cover and look to hit the line strongly in the Maiden 3YO 1400 metres, before stepping up in distance next time out.

2:47pm R4 11 Angelica Hall (3 f Guillotine - Greta Hall) - Matt Cameron; makes her debut from barrier four in the Maiden 1200 metres. A winner of her three trials to date, including one here on her home track, she looks in lovely condition for this assignment. Her dam, Greta Hall (Kaapstad), won impressively over 1200 metres at the corresponding meet in November 1997 and from the family of Golden Sword (Kaapstad), Madam Valeta (Palace Music) and Falkirk (Tale of the Cat) she does not lack for quality.

3:22pm R5 7 Orinto (4 m Iffraaj - The Perfurme Garden) - Matt Cameron; was never in contention from last on Oct. 19 in the Benchmark 65 1950 metres at Rotorua. In her two previous races, both at Te Rapa, she made up massive amounts of ground for second and third respectively. She has what it takes to prove very competitive in this field for the Benchmark 65 2000 metres.

5:07pm R3 13 Merrily (3 f O'Reilly - McHappy) - Mick Dee (a2); is a recent addition to the Te Akau stables and makes her debut from barrier one in the Maiden 1200 metres. A half-sister to Glad (Pins), who was trained by Te Akau to win the Anniversary Handicap (Listed, 1600m) on Jan. 19 at Trentham, Her dam, Mchappy, was a two-year-old winner over 1000 metres in Australia, and a half-sister to Scandinavia (Snippets), the grand-dam of champion mare Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), unbeaten in twenty-five starts including fifteen Group Ones.

6:20pm R10 1 Secret Whisper (4 g Align - Danewhisper) - Michael Dee (a2); found the line nicely in a trial behind Mufhasa (Pentire) last week at Cambridge, having rounded off solidly for third in a good form race on Oct. 4 over a mile at Te Rapa. Drawn barrier three in the Benchmark 75 2000 metres, he is a previous course winner that has the ability to threaten with a skilful ride in an even field.

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