Te Akau Season of Success - Group 1 Golden Girl

As we are 48 hours away from the end of the sensational 2024/25 racing season, we continue our reflection on the success experienced by Te Akau owners, with 23 Group/Listed races trans-Tasman.  La Dorada was a total season stand-out - 

DID YOU KNOW? did you know, Te Akau is the only stable to have trained the winner of the Karaka 2YO Millions, Group 1 Sistema Stakes and Group 1 Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes all in the same season? - and this season we achieved that feat for the incredible fourth time! 

La Dorada (2 f Super Seth – Gold Fever, by Savabeel) confirmed her status as a superstar in the making with a breathtaking victory in the $550,000 Group 1 Courtesy Ford Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) on 29 March at Trentham. Already crowned the $1 million TAB Karaka Millions 2YO (Restricted Listed, 1200m) winner earlier in the season, the golden filly dazzled once again, taking her connections on an unforgettable ride.

This win continued a remarkable season of milestones for Te Akau Racing. La Dorada had already become the stable’s eighth Karaka Millions' 2YO winner and our 10th Group 2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes heroine. Her victory in the Sires’ Produce Stakes added another jewel to the crown - Te Akau’s ninth win in this historic race and our sixth in the past seven years. 

These statistics are nothing short of extraordinary, cementing Te Akau’s dominance of two-year-old racing in New Zealand.

Ridden by champion jockey Michael McNab, who guided her to glory in the Breeders’ Stakes and who himself secured his 10th Group One victory with this success, La Dorada was the picture of composure and class. McNab positioned her perfectly in fourth place, poised to strike, and when the field straightened for home, she unleashed a dazzling burst of acceleration. At the 200m mark she surged to the lead, and from there, it was a procession - she powered clear to win by an emphatic three and a half lengths.

The performance was reminiscent of her dam Gold Fever’s two-year-old brilliance and echoed the path of Melody Belle (Commands), McNab’s first-ever Group One winner in the same race back in 2017, who went on to become Champion Two-Year-Old and dual Horse of the Year.

On Good4 footing, La Dorada clocked the 1400 metres in 1:22.6, with a slick last 600m in 34.7, paying $3.30 & $1.50 on the NZ TAB tote. She not only outclassed her rivals but also led home a stable quinella, with fellow Te Akau youngster Hostility (I Am Invincible) stepping up with a courageous second in just his second start.

This victory also reinforced Te Akau’s unparalleled achievement – the only stable to win the Karaka Millions, Sistema Stakes, and Sires’ Produce Stakes in the same season, a feat they have now accomplished four times.

Owned by the Te Akau Solid Gold Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), La Dorada was purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $190,000 from the draft of Waikato Stud at the 2024 Karaka Book 1 Sale. She is from the second crop of Waikato Stud’s exciting stallion Super Seth (Dundeel), already the sire of four individual Group One winners including La Dorada herself. Super Seth was a star in his own right, producing one of the most thrilling Caulfield Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) victories when he stormed past race favourite Alligator Blood (All Too Hard) to claim the title.

Her dam Gold Fever, by nine-time Champion Sire Savabeel (Zabeel), was a brilliant filly who won the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes herself in 2017, became a finalist for Champion Two-Year-Old and Horse of the Year, and never finished worse than third in her six-start career. Purchased by Ellis for $110,000 as a yearling, Gold Fever added depth to a pedigree already brimming with quality.

Carrying over $1 million in prize money in her debut season and now a dual Group One winner, La Dorada has more than lived up to her glittering bloodlines. With her breathtaking acceleration, fierce will to win, and pedigree steeped in champions, she has all the hallmarks of a filly destined for greatness.

Currently, La Dorada is preparing for a jump out in early at Cranbourne where she has relocated for an Australian Spring campaign - as the team looks ahead to even bigger challenges with this golden girl. Have no doubt, all going well, she will be back in New Zealand before Christmas to prepare for her Karaka 3YO Millions' quest, as she attempts to emulate the deeds of her illustrious stablemate Probabeel.

Te Akau Previous Wins in the Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr. 1, 1400m):

2024 – Move To Strike (I Am Invincible)

2022 – Maven Belle (Burgundy)

2021 – On The Bubbles (Brazen Beau)

2019 – Yourdeel (Dundeel)

2018 – Avantage (Fastnet Rock)

2017 – Melody Belle (Iffraaj)

2005 – Kindacross (Cape Cross)

2003 – Maroofity (Maroof)