Te Akau TV - Group 1 Racing Is Back
5 September, 2025
Te Akau Group 1 Season kicks off with the girls in New Zealand and Australia this Saturday!
It’s been another successful week for Te Akau Racing on both sides of the Tasman, with standout performances from our rising stars. Now we buckle in for the launch of our Group 1 season in New Zealand and Australia - with the first Kiwi Group 1 on the radar, backed by seriously good racing across the board!
The tangerine army has been in winning form once again. Belle Du Monde produced a commanding performance to secure a well-deserved victory in a stable quinella with Cool Aza Rene at Riccarton, while Cognito returned to the track in style, bouncing back from kissing spine treatment with a tough win - a true testament to the team's skill and the horse's courage!
In Victoria, royally bred Frankel filly Chateau Eze made the perfect start to her career when winning stylishly on debut for Fairway Thoroughbreds while in Melbourne, Damask Rose signalled she is right on track for a big spring. Partnered by Blake Shinn, she ran the fastest last 400m and 200m in her race, with her 400m time being the best sectional of the entire meeting, her 200m the second best of the meeting. These statistics underline her class, as she keeps her eye firmly focussed on a A$10 million Golden Eagle start.
This week we catch up with Sam Bergerson and Mikey Grey, and Ben Gleeson in Australia, as our attention is firmly on the weekend ahead. Our trans-Tasman Group 1 girls provide the feels for Spring as the season officially kicks off.
At Ellerslie, Quintessa, already a Group 1 winner of the Levin Classic and a Group 3 winner in Australia, returns to the Group 1 spotlight in the Proisir Plate at Ellerslie. She lines up alongside her stablemate Qali Al Farrasha, the ultimate bridesmaid last season with three Group 1 runner-up finishes. This could well be her crowning moment, and adding extra spice, champion jockey Opie Bosson ONZM sits on 99 career Group 1 wins! He partners Qali Al Farrasha in his hunt for the century milestone and we wish Opie all the very best towards this milestone.
Meanwhile across the Tasman, our Karaka Million 2YO Queen and Group 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce winner La Dorada takes her place in the Group 1 Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley - ridden by Luke Cartwright, she carries just 50kgs. This is the same race our superstar Imperatriz conquered, and she still holds the track record, so we are very excited to have our girl La Dorada (known as Ginnie) having the chance to follow in those famous hoof-prints!
Supporting our Group 1 girls this weekend, we have a team of 13 runners across the Ellerslie programme. Our black-type contenders include He Who Dares and Hostility in the Sir Colin Meads Trophy, and In Haste (raced by the TAB Racing Club and in the Daffodil Day colours) together with Queen’s Evidence in the Gold Trail Stakes. Alongside Top Shelf, Cool ’n’ Fast, Carsolio, Age Of Discovery, El Viento, I’m A Dirty Rascal and Balance Of Power complete the line up.
Away from Ellerslie, Origin Of Love and Elegant Lady stepping out at Timaru on Sunday, while in Victoria our weekend team of Toroness, Seven Oceans and Jezebel Jenni all set to compete.
While the action is unfolding on the track, Sunday evening also brings one of the most anticipated nights of the racing year in New Zealand - the 2024/25 New Zealand Horse of the Year Awards in Hamilton. Te Akau Racing has enjoyed an extraordinary record at these awards, with five Horse of the Year titles in the past six years through Melody Belle, Probabeel, and Imperatriz last season, and again we are strongly represented across the categories.
La Dorada and Return To Conquer are the sole finalists for Champion Two-Year-Old of the Year, Captured By Love and Damask Rose are both finalists for Champion Three-Year-Old of the Year, while Mehzebeen takes her place among the Champion Stayer contenders. John Elstob & Denise Bassett, defending their Owner of the Year crown, are finalists once more, and Premiership winners Mark Walker & Sam Bergerson are nominated for Champion Trainer of the Year after another record-breaking season. All of our equine finalists also has the chance to be crowned Horse of the Year.
From debut winners and comeback stars, Group 1 milestones and a black-tie celebration of racing excellence, it is a weekend brimming with excitement! Good luck to all of our runners and connections this weekend - bring it on! GO THE TANGERINE!