Special Retired Racehorse
Date: 17 Apr 2013
Some lovely news on our retired stable star Distinctly Secret, bred by David.
He was the pride and joy of Te Akau - Distinctly Secret - a horse bred and raced by David Ellis the majority owner.
Trained by Mark Walker, Chas (as he was known) gave the team some huge highlights during his illustrious career.
In a career spanning 63 starts, he won 10 races including Group races on both sides of the Tasman. He was 2nd nine times, 3rd five times, 4th eight times as well as 5th on seven occasions - that's 29 placings. he also earned $1.82 million in stakes.
Chas had so many outstanding moments on the racetrack - his crowning glory probably was his win in the $750,000 Group 1 Kelt Capital Stakes in 2003 - an event he also raced in over four consecutive seasons - finishing runner up and fourth at his other three attempts.
He won the 2004 Group 2 Awapuni Gold Cup before David gave a share in Chas to Karyn as his wedding present to her - so she was thrilled when he came out and repeated the feat in 2005, going back to back in the Gold Cups.
His prowess didn't stop there - he was 4th in the Group 1 Queensland Derby (a race he should have won) in 2002 but Queensland treated him well as later he would win the Group 2 Grand Prix and the Listed Rough Habit there.
He performed with distinction on the track in both countries throughout his career - other highlights being in 2002 when he was 6th in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup, prior to which he had finished 3rd in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes beaten only a neck and a nose by Lonhro and Royal Code and he was 4th in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup.
The next year he was back with a 7th in the Melbourne Cup and again outstanding lead up form - runner up in the Group 2 Sandown Classic, 3rd in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup and 5th in the Group 1 Mackinnon.
His other domestic highlights also included runner up placings in both the Group 1 Zabeel Classic and Group 1 Whakanui International Stakes (now known as the Darci Brahma International).
David retired Chas in 2006 - wanting his wonderful horse to enjoy retirement rather than risk injury. If you wonder what happens to our "retirees"? We always ensure our horses retire to caring, loving homes so his dedicated strapper Renee Bell gave him a new home and just over the weekend sent us this update:
"I thought you would enjoy seeing this awesome pic of the old boy at our first hunt! Taken at Maramarua a couple of weeks ago, he absolutely loves it. We are going to one at Te Kauwhata tomorrow, hopefully we'll get a bit more action this time."