Te Akau Season of Success - Quintessa Kicks Off in Class

As we reflect on Te Akau's season of success - bold mare Quintessa returned to Australia for a new 2024/25 campaign and struck Group victory immediately ... one of five stakes' winners for our Victorian stable during the season ...

What a way to launch our Australian stakes' campaign for the season – with a bold and brilliant return from Quintessa (4 m Shamus Award – Chaquinta, by High Chaparral) in the A$200,000 Group Three Tobin Brothers Cockram Stakes over 1200m for four-year-old mares and upwards at Caulfield on 31 August.

Resuming from a stellar three-year-old season, Quintessa stamped her authority on the new campaign in true Te Akau style. She showed all the qualities we love - professionalism, power, and poise - storming home to land a valuable black-type victory against older mares first-up. It was a win that spoke volumes about her talent and resilience, especially carrying the top weight of 60kg.

In doing so, she followed in the footsteps of our former champion mare Probabeel (Savabeel), who also kicked off her four-year-old campaign by winning this very same race before going on to claim four Group Ones in Australia. That’s great company to keep.

Ridden by former Te Akau apprentice Daniel Stackhouse, now firmly entrenched in Melbourne’s leading jockey ranks with over 1,000 wins to his name, Quintessa was coolly ridden. Buried in midfield and patiently saved for her run, she angled five wide into the straight and let down beautifully – proving too strong in the closing stages.

On a Good3 surface, she clocked 1:11.5 for the 1200 metres and returned a tidy $10.80 & $3.20 on the NZ TAB tote.

Quintessa has always shown class. A winner at her only two-year-old start, she truly blossomed at three, claiming the Group One Levin Classic (1600m) in sensational style. Her season also included no fewer than three fourth placings in Group One races, including the Australian Guineas (1600m) and the Australian Oaks (2400m), showing her versatility from mile to staying trips. She also placed in the Group Two Alistair Clark Stakes (2040m) and the Group Two Auckland Guineas (1400m).

Purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $170,000 at the 2022 Karaka Book 1 Sale from the Wentwood Grange draft, and raced by the Te Akau Awarded Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM), Quintessa has now earned NZ$800,000 – a terrific return for her loyal group of owners.

Her pedigree reads like a who's who of international success. Sire Shamus Award, by Champion Sire Snitzel, famously won the Group One Cox Plate as a maiden before taking out the Group One Australian Guineas and being crowned Champion Three-Year-Old of the Year. At stud, he’s more than lived up to that hype, siring over 900 winners, including 11 Group One winners.

She’s equally well-bred on the dam side: her dam Chaquinta is by the mighty High Chaparral, a global sensation, dual Breeders’ Cup winner, and now a powerhouse sire and broodmare sire around the world.

Now back in training at Matamata, Quintessa is scheduled for a jump-out on 31 July, as we map out her next spring assignments. She’s a filly with a big future – and we can’t wait to see where she takes her ownership team next.

Te Akau’s previous win in the Group Three Cockram Stakes (1200m):

2021 – Probabeel (Savabeel)