Te Akau Season of Success - The Dream Dazzles

Today marks the end of a wonderful season for Te Akau owners - July is a great month to reflect on the black type highlights of 2024/25 - huge thanks to our owners for the incredible support, our trans-Tasman team for its expertise and passion - and to our talented, beloved horses ... Dream of the Moon certainly made her owners black type dreams come true ...

Absolutely toying with her rivals, the exciting filly Dream Of The Moon (3 f All Too Hard – Moonchild, by Charge Forward) turned the $80,000 Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes (1600m) into a one-horse show on 12 April at Riccarton.

Dream Of The Moon had already shown Riccarton what she was capable of, scoring impressively on the track as a two-year-old before finishing third behind her stablemate, and eventual Group 1 NZ 1000 Guineas' winner, Captured By Love (Written Tycoon) in the Group 2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes. Her three-year-old spring campaign promised plenty but was cut short by injury after two courageous runner-up finishes in the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes over 1200m and the Group 3 Barneswood Stakes (1400m).

After a patient recovery, the filly returned better than ever. She resumed in March with an eye-catching win over 1200 metres in Rating 65 company, signalling she was ready to climb back to stakes' class. Te Akau trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson had her peaking for the Listed NZB Airfreight Stakes - and she delivered with absolute authority.

From barrier three, jockey George Rooke gave Dream Of The Moon a perfect run in transit. She cruised along effortlessly, travelling like the winner a long way from home. At the 300-metre mark, when Rooke released the brakes, she exploded clear, putting the race to bed in a matter of strides. In the end, she was in a class of her own, storming to victory by three-and-a-quarter lengths.

On a Good4 track, she clocked a smart 1:35.9 for the 1600 metres and returned a generous $11.40 & $3.50 on the NZ TAB tote.

Te Akau also claimed third in the race with the talented Donna Chiara (Belardo). Drawn the outside barrier (18), she was cleverly handled by Joe Doyle, who dropped her back, saved ground near the rail, and finished strongly to grab a valuable black type placing.

For premiership-leading trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, the day carried added significance. 

Having notched their 100th win of the season just a week earlier at Wanganui with I Am Nutz (I Am Invincible), they pushed their tally to 104 victories thanks to back-to-back stakes successes - Mehzebeen (Almanzor) bringing up win No. 15 and Dream Of The Moon sealing win No. 16.

Dream Of The Moon is raced by the Te Akau Moon Dreaming Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MZNM) and was a A$160,000 purchase by David Ellis CNZM at the 2023 Gold Coast Yearling Sale, from the draft of Glenbeigh Farm.

“She was a brilliant winner as a two-year-old at Riccarton, up to the best of her age at two and three, and I’m thrilled to see her back winning like she did,” said Ellis.

Her sire, All Too Hard, was the Australian Champion Three-Year-Old and is a half-brother to the legendary unbeaten champion Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), who won all 25 of her starts including 15 Group One races. A top-class racehorse himself, All Too Hard claimed three Group One victories over 1400 metres - the All Aged Stakes, Futurity Stakes, and C. F. Orr Stakes - and now continues to excel as a sire.

Dream Of The Moon’s dam, Moonchild, is an unraced mare by Charge Forward (Red Ransom), a Group One-winning sprinter who stood at the prestigious Arrowfield Stud. Her grand-dam Flowerchild, a three-time winner to 1250 metres, is by the great Redoute’s Choice (Danehill), while her third dam North Flower traces back to the influential Australian sire Rory’s Jester (Crown Jester). 

Dream Of The Moon also carries a valuable Danehill cross, with influences flowing through both her sire line (All Too Hard) and dam line (Moonchild).

In training at Matamata, Dream Of The Moon continues to go from strength to strength. With her talent and resilience, she has an exciting new season ahead - and this victory suggested her best is still to come.