Te Akau Targets Trentham Group 1's

Raceform's Richard Edmunds writes:

“She's going into the race in similar sort of shape to when she won it last year, and the weight-for-age conditions of the race will obviously be a huge help for her.”

Two Group One
features at Trentham this Saturday could add yet another chapter to a season of
unprecedented dominance for champion trainer Jamie Richards.

At the helm
of the Te Akau Racing operation, Richards has won 89 races, 16 black-type
events and more than $2.44 million in prizemoney in New Zealand since August 1
- all more than double his nearest rival.

That
dominance has been emphasised on some of our biggest racedays, with two Group
One triumphs during the Hawke's Bay spring carnival, five wins on New Zealand
Cup Day at Riccarton, and six stakes successes across Boxing Day and New Year's
Day at Ellerslie.

Two of those
star performers in Auckland, Avantage and Brando, are set to start as odds-on
favourites in Saturday's biggest Trentham features - Avantage in the Gr. 1 JR
& N Berkett Telegraph, and Brando in the Gr. 1 Devan Plastics Levin
Classic.

Avantage is the defending Telegraph champion, and she has shown stunning versatility in between times with further elite-level wins in the 1600-metre Haunui Farm WFA Classic, 2000-metre New Zealand Stakes and this month's 1200-metre Railway at Ellerslie.

“She's in
good shape,” Richards told RaceForm this week. “I've been very pleased with her
since the Railway on New Year's Day.

“Her work's
been good, and she's continued to eat well and do everything right around the
stable. She's going into the race in similar sort of shape to when she won it
last year, and the weight-for-age conditions of the race will obviously be a
huge help for her.”

Bought by
David Ellis for $210,000 at Karaka in 2017, Avantage has won 12 of her 22
starts and earned more than $1.66 million in stakes. She will shoot for a sixth
Group One victory this weekend, with the prospect of further riches still to
come in this preparation.

“At this
stage, we're looking at following the same sort of path as last year,” Richards
said. “It's a reasonably quick turnaround from New Year's Day into the
Telegraph, but then the spacing is quite good for Te Rapa (the 1400-metre BCD
Group Sprint) and those other good races further down the track.”

Avantage will
be joined in Saturday's Telegraph field by stablemate Burgundy Belle, who has
won four of her 14 starts and also finished second in the Listed Matamata Cup,
second in the Listed Levin Stakes and fourth in the Gr. 3 J Swap Sprint last
start.

“She's been
racing well and deserves her shot at a race like this,” Richards said. “The
thing with her is that she's not as effective right-handed, which limits our
options when we're trying to pick up a bit of black-type.

“I've been
happy with her, and she could be a rough place chance on Saturday.

“With Opie
(Bosson) suspended, Danielle Johnson gets back aboard Avantage this weekend.
She's got a great record with the mare and gets on so well with her. Sam
Collett will take the ride on Burgundy Belle.”

Brando (main photo) is still in the very early stages of his racing career, but the Savabeel colt has been quick to make his mark. He was one of the sale-toppers at the 2019 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, secured by Ellis for $500,000, and after a debut placing behind the talented Tinker McPhee, he has strung together three highly impressive victories.

The most recent of those was the Listed Uncle Remus Stakes on Boxing Day at Ellerslie - a race that that has produced three of the last four Levin Classic winners with Hall Of Fame (2017), Age Of Fire (2018) and Travelling Light (2020).

“Brando is an
exciting colt,” Richards said. “I've been pleased with his progress since he
won at Ellerslie. Everything's going well with him and he's heading into
Saturday's race in good order.

“Danielle
will take over the ride from Opie on Saturday - she knows him well and won on
him at Te Aroha earlier in the season.”

Two Group One
victories at a single meeting would be nothing new for Richards, who scored a
special Sydney double last February with Probabeel in the Surround Stakes and
Te Akau Shark in the Chipping Norton Stakes. He has also won both the Sistema
Stakes and New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie in each of the last two seasons -
with Yourdeel and Melody Belle in 2019, and with Cool Aza Beel and Avantage
last year.

Meanwhile, Richards will also saddle Quattro Quinta and Noverre in Saturday's Listed IRT No.1 Wellesley Stakes.

Quattro
Quinta won on debut in September and placed in both subsequent starts,
including the Listed FastTrack Insurance 2YO Stakes at Pukekohe in November.
Noverre will be on debut in this weekend's $50,000 feature.

“They're a
couple of nice two-year-olds that we really like,” Richards said. “They both
won nicely at the trials at Matamata today (Tuesday).

“It might be
a big ask on debut for Noverre, but he's a horse with a lot of ability who's
just needed a little bit of time to strengthen.”

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