Te Akau Season of Success - Golden Filly Shines On

As we reflect on the 2024/25 Te Akau season of success, a 'golden' filly emerged, stamping her undoubted talent and exciting future ahead ...

On a day when Te Akau Racing stamped its dominance on the Matamata track, the golden filly La Dorada (2 f Super Seth – Gold Fever, by Savabeel) etched her name into history with a brilliant victory in the $225,000 Group 2 J Swap Contractors Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200m) on 15 February. Her win came hot on the heels of stablemate Return To Conquer (Snitzel) taking out the Group 3 Matamata Slipper, giving Te Akau an extraordinary black-type double on our home turf.

The success was made even sweeter by the sense of tradition woven into La Dorada’s story. This is a filly bred for greatness - not only has she inherited her dam Gold Fever’s (Savabeel) dazzling talent, but she also carried on a family legacy. 

Gold Fever herself won this very race for Te Akau in 2017 after being discovered by David Ellis CNZM at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale, while her grand-dam Gold Rocks produced another Breeders’ Stakes winner, Gold Rush (So You Think), in 2016. The gold truly runs deep in this pedigree.

For Te Akau trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, it was their fourth consecutive victory in the prestigious race, having won it last year with Captured By Love (Written Tycoon), who went on to claim Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas' glory. La Dorada’s triumph marked Te Akau’s 10th success in the time-honoured Breeders’ Stakes, further cementing the stable’s unmatched record in New Zealand juvenile racing.

Having already captured hearts and headlines with a commanding win in the $1 million TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie just three weeks earlier, La Dorada lined up as the $1.80 favourite - and lived up to every expectation. 

Under the cool hands of champion jockey Michael McNab, she broke smartly to position on the pace, with To Cap It All (Capitalist) looming as a persistent challenger. As the field straightened, the pair locked horns in a stirring duel, but La Dorada’s grit and class shone through. In the final strides, she drew clear, her determination as golden as her name.

Clocking 1:11.6 for the 1200 metres on Good4 footing, with a sharp last 600m in 34.1, La Dorada added yet another Group race to her burgeoning résumé. This was her third victory in just four starts, with each win marked by the kind of tenacity and raw ability that sets champions apart.

Owned by the Te Akau Solid Gold Racing Partnership (Managed by Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), La Dorada was a standout yearling purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $190,000 from Waikato Stud’s 2024 Karaka Book 1 draft. She is from the second crop of Waikato Stud’s exciting stallion Super Seth (Dundeel), who has already sired four individual Group One winners. Super Seth himself announced his greatness as a three-year-old, famously flying home to defeat Alligator Blood in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

The maternal side of her pedigree is equally glittering. Her dam Gold Fever, by nine-time Champion Sire Savabeel (Zabeel), was an early star herself - as mentioned, winning the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes in dominant fashion and also placing in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes. In just six career starts, Gold Fever never finished outside the top three and earned a Champion Two-Year-Old nomination. Her daughter appears to have inherited all her brilliance and more.

With over $1 million in prizemoney already banked in her first season, La Dorada now looks every inch a filly destined for the very top. She is currently in training at Te Akau's Cranbourne stable with Victorian spring black type features on her radar before returning home to attempt the Karaka Millions' double, like her illustrious stablemate Probabeel!  

Te Akau’s previous wins in the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr. 2, 1200m):

2024 – Captured By Love (Written Tycoon)

2023 – Zourion (Zoustar)

2022 – Maven Belle (Burgundy)

2017 – Gold Fever (Savabeel)

2009 – Te Akau Rose (Thorn Park)

2008 – Te Akau Coup (Thorn Park)

1997 – Maxamore (Volksraad)

1995 – Bayremah (Kingdom Bay)

1991 – Super Natural (Bakharoff)

La Dorada’s name means “The Golden One” — and with each dazzling performance, she’s living up to it in spectacular fashion.