Te Akau TV - Weekend Preview
21 March, 2025
IT HAS BEEN ANOTHER GREAT WEEK AT TE AKAU!
Te Akau’s retired champion Imperatriz is set to be honoured with a feature race at Moonee Valley!
From this season forward, Cox Plate Day will now feature the Imperatriz Sprint, a 1000-metre open handicap that has been renamed in recognition of her extraordinary achievements at the track. The event’s prize money will be increased from A$150,000 to A$200,000, and it will be run over the same course where Imperatriz stamped herself as one of the world's best sprinters. Her Group 1 Moir Stakes victory in 2023 set The Valley’s current 1000-metre course record of 56.47 seconds (she actually broke her own previous record she set in the Group 2 McEwen Stakes the start prior), adding to her incredible record at the track.
She finished her career unbeaten in five starts at The Valley, claiming major wins in the 2023 Group 1 Manikato and Moir Stakes and back-to-back editions of the Group 1 William Reid Stakes in 2023 and 2024. She joins legendary sprinters Apache Cat and Black Caviar as one of only three horses to win the William Reid Stakes' twice.
Imperatriz retired as the highest-rated sprinting mare in the world and was subsequently sold at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for a Southern Hemisphere record A$6.6 million to Yulong Investments. She is currently in foal to Pierata and, according to Yulong, has taken to broodmare life just as well as she did her exceptional racing career.
As the 100th anniversary of the William Reid Stakes approaches on Saturday, it is fitting that the Moonee Valley Racing Club has chosen this moment to honour Imperatriz’s legacy. The inaugural running of the Imperatriz Sprint will take place on Ladbrokes Cox Plate Day in 2025, ensuring her name remains a fixture on one of Australia’s biggest days of racing.
It is an honour for Te Akau, and especially her owners, to see one of our all-time greats recognised in this way, and we look forward to watching her legacy live on.
The team is on the road this week, with the team inspecting NZ based yearlings heading to the Easter Sydney sale. This is always an exciting time as we look ahead to the next generation of Te Akau stars as well as lead in to a good weekend of black type action on the track.
An important weekend of racing is ahead, with Te Akau horses chasing black type across New Zealand and Australia.
Trentham (Saturday)
Group 2 Wentwood Grange Cuddle Stakes – My Lips Are Sealed steps up in black-type company in this prestigious fillies and mares' race over 1600 metres.
Listed Bill Tito Book Repair Specialist Lightning Handicap – Puketiro and Petrucci take their places in this 1200-metre sprint, both looking to capitalise on their recent form, and enhance their future broodmare prospects.
Riccarton (Saturday)
Group 3 Donaldson Brown South Island Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes – Family Ties lines up in this event for fillies and mares over 1600m.
The Valley (Saturday)
Jack Hirsch Memorial Yarra Valley Cup – Savoir Faire contests this re-scheduled feature, looking to add another strong performance over the 2040m.
Group 2 Packaging Needs Sunline Stakes – Quintessa steps up in class in this fillies and mares event, it suits back to WFA, with former Te Akau apprentice Daniel Stackhouse engaged.
Matamata (Sunday)
A busy day at our NZ home track with multiple Te Akau runners in action, providing strong representation across the card.
The focus then remains at Trentham, where the Group 1 Manawatū Sires’ Produce Stakes will take centre stage on Saturday week. This premier two-year-old contest over 1400 metres, the second of only two Group 1's available to 2YOs, has long been a target for Te Akau, with the stable enjoying great success in the race over many years!
Best of luck to runners and connections - GO THE TANGERINE!